Blood is Thicker than Coltan
by Reese.9193
Summary: A girl from 2034 jumps back in time and lands in the Connor's care. She helps them sway Alex Payne, a biochemist, from creating a biological weapon that Skynet will someday use.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note** Welcome to Chapter 1 of __Blood is Thicker than Coltan__. This story follows a 17-year-old girl (Mackenzie) through her adventures, which includes jumping back in time to the year 2009 from her future home of 2034. She comes into the care of the Connors, but the reason of her mission is still a mystery, as is her past. Who is this girl?_

Chapter 1

April 11th, 2034

Bullets whizzed past my head with centimeters to spare. I could feel the heat of them as they nearly singed my skin. Me and two of my closest friends and fellow soldiers were hiding behind a pile of scrap metal. Well…it didn't used to be scrap metal. It used to be part of the things shooting at us. I didn't know exactly what they were called, and I didn't care. They were all tin cans to me.

I gripped my .223 assault rifle tighter and ducked my head as another bullet ricocheted off somewhere too close for comfort. My rifle may have been a bit outdated, but I liked the older weapons. I couldn't stand any of the confiscated terminator energy weapons. I glanced up at Tyler, who was picking shots off at the tin cans while standing precariously close to the edge of a huge old tire. "Psst! Quit it, Tyler! You're only giving them our position. If I'm gonna jump now we can't have them know we're here," I hissed up at him.

Tyler nodded, slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder again, and jumped down. "I guess so. I just want to get a bullet in one of their heads," he replied, clenching his hands into fists. I could most definitely understand his hatred of the machines that'd hunted humans since the beginning of the nuclear war. Not only had they preyed on both his parents, but they got mine too… I'd been an orphan for nearly seven years now.

A laugh sounded behind us. I turned around to see my best friend, Sierra. "You really think that'd do anything, Ty? Not even a .50 cal would do anything, and you know it."

Tyler narrowed his eyes at Sierra and scoffed. "Oh, and those pipe bombs you insist on lugging around will?" he shot back, pointing at the cylindrical bombs strapped across her torso.

"They at least slow 'em down," she sneered.

"Guys! Stop it, okay? I know you guys don't want me to do this, but I have to, so either go away or help me with these," I said, holding up the time travel modules Sierra stole from John Connor's safe. It still amazed me she could get in there, and without tripping any alarms either. Sierra and Tyler glared at each other for just a moment more, then stuck their tongues out at each other. "Real mature, guys," I reprimanded.

After the three of us had gotten the modules ready, Tyler sighed. "We're gonna miss you, Mac," he said, looking at me sadly. His shoulders were drooped and he was chewing on his lip slightly. He only did that when he was worried…

My eyebrows furrowed and a lump formed in my throat. "Y-yeah, Tyler, I'm gonna miss you too."

Sierra blinked a few tears out of her eyes, an uncharacteristic action for her. The lump in my throat grew and I bit my lip. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, because I'd probably see them again in my lifetime. Maybe I wouldn't, but I was trying not to think about that… I hugged both my friends tightly for a few moments before stepping back into the middle of the three modules. We'd put one on the pile of scrap metal we were hiding behind and two on the ground, creating a triangle in which the time travel "bubble" would form.

I tossed my rifle to Tyler, getting a more hardened look in my eyes again. "If I don't succeed, put a bullet in one of the tin can's heads with it. Take good care of her too," I added, flicking my eyes briefly in Sierra's direction.

Tyler blinked and nodded, straightening up a bit and raising his right hand to his forehead in a salute. "Good luck, Mackenzie," he murmured.

My heart lurched slightly. That was the first time Ty had used my actual name. He'd always just used Mac as a nickname. I saluted back to both of them and pushed a button on the module next to me. Blue lightning began to form around me in a spherical shape. It would only be a matter of minutes before I'd be 20 some years in the past.

Before the sphere had completely formed, though, energy bolts shot over our heads and an HK-aerial hovered over the pile of scrap metal. Two T-888s jumped off each side of the HK and began walking steadily toward Tyler and Sierra.

"Get out of here! Now! Go!" I screamed at them, but they didn't seem to hear me. The drone of the HK must have been overpowering my voice. They got the idea, however. I glanced to the blue sphere around me and it was starting to flicker. Any second now, I'd leave my friends to fight off the triple-eights. It was too late to stop the process now.

Just as I was beginning to disappear from the world I've always known, something exploded behind me. Moments later, I was knelt down in the middle of a…bunker? I didn't know where I was, but I did know about the pain shooting through my left shoulder and my lower back. I yelped in pain and collapsed.

* * * * *

2009

The next thing I remember was waking up in a strange bed, in a strange room, with no one around. My head throbbed slightly, and my left shoulder was a little numb. I rubbed my eyes and glanced around the room. Thank goodness I wasn't in a hospital. Rubbing my shoulder, I noticed it was dressed and bandaged pretty well. The bandages covered my upper torso, so I didn't worry about needing a shirt just yet. Whoever had found me had not only fixed me up, but dressed me as well.

"Good, you're awake," a voice sounded from the doorway of the room I was in. I glanced up to see a somewhat tall woman with black hair. She was drying her hands on a small towel and she sat in a chair next to the bed I was laying on.

"Where am I?" I asked, still a little confused with what had happened since I lost consciousness.

The woman laughed slightly. "You're in my house currently. But I suppose you're wanting to know _when_ you are as well."

I blinked and stuck my right arm under the blanket that was covering me. "When? Wh-why would I want to know that?"

"Don't worry, I know you're from the future." She nodded to my right arm and added, "That tattoo is a dead giveaway to those who know what to look for. You're lucky Derek found you."

My heart stopped for just a moment. "Derek?" I asked. I knew who she was talking about, but she didn't have to know that.

The woman tilted her head to one side, and then smiled slightly. "I always forget my manners. I'm Sarah Connor. Derek Reese is my son's uncle. I suppose he'd be my brother-in-law…" she trailed off. "My son is-"

"John Connor," I finished for her. "I've only met him once in the future." Sarah and gave me a somewhat blank look, expecting my name now. "O-oh, I'm uh…I'm Mackenzie."

"Don't have a last name?" Sarah asked, giving me an inquisitive look.

I gulped slightly, trying to think fast for a name. I couldn't have her, or anyone here, know who I was…not just yet at least. "White. My name is Mackenzie White," I said, trying not to stutter. My mind went blank, so the only answer I could come up with was…well, the color of the walls.

Sarah nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mackenzie White." She studied me for a few moments. "What year are you from?"

"I'm from 2034," I managed to choke out, frowning at my sudden watery eyes. All the memories of what had happened just before I jumped into the past just came rushing back to me. I could still faintly remember seeing Sierra run for her life, tugging Tyler by the collar behind her as he tried to take some shots at the triple-eights.

"What happened? When you came back, how'd you get all that shrapnel in your shoulder?" Sarah asked, giving me a sympathetic look. Or at least attempting one.

I sat up completely and looked at my hands. "Two of my fellow soldiers and I were hiding behind a pile of scrap metal, preparing for me to jump back. An HK-aerial and two T-888s found us right after I'd pushed the button to jump. It was too late for me to help my friends…" I bit my lip. "Something exploded the exact moment before I left 2034. I guess that's how I got the shrapnel in my shoulder. I don't remember anything after that, except for this," I explained, my voice low.

Sarah nodded and I looked up to catch her gaze. "And your mission?" she asked.

That caught me off guard. "Classified," I said within seconds. "I'm sorry, I have explicit orders to not disclose the purpose of my mission to anyone." She seemed to accept that answer, thankfully. There was movement behind her, in the doorway, so I glanced up to see who it was. I paled when I saw it was a girl who looked not too much older than me. I'd seen this girl before, in the future. She was a terminator.

Sarah noticed my discomfort and turned around as well. "Cameron, this is Mackenzie White. She'll be staying with us for awhile."

Cameron tilted her head to one side probably just a quarter of an inch and her eyes scanned me. _Great, now she really knows who I am_, I said to myself. "Thank you for explaining," Cameron said, nodding. "Breakfast is ready." And with that, she turned and left just as silently as she appeared. I was beyond surprised she didn't say anything about me.

I gulped and my eyes flicked to Sarah. "She's a machine, what's she doing here?" I asked.

She got up and walked to the doorway. "Cameron may be a machine, but she's saved John's life on several accounts. She was sent back to protect him. I don't even fully trust her, and I don't think I ever will, but while she's here we can use her protection and skills," she said, leaving next to no room to argue the matter further. "Like she said, breakfast is ready."

_As much as I hate tin cans like Cameron, I guess I have to put that in the back of my mind if I'm going to live here_, I thought. I flipped the blanket that was covering me off and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, just perching there for a few moments as I waited for my head to stop spinning.

* * * * *

When I got downstairs, I followed my nose to the kitchen. I could smell pancakes and coffee. My mouth watered at the thought of finally having a warm meal. I'd been living off food ration packs my entire life. Now that I thought about it, I don't think I'd ever _had_ a warm meal.

Before I walked into the kitchen, I peered around the corner to see who was there. Cameron was standing in the corner, looking out the kitchen window and scanning everything in sight for possible threats. Sarah was at the stove, flipping a few pancakes and cracking eggs into a bowl. At the kitchen table sat a man, in his mid thirties it looked like, who was taking a drink of his cup of coffee. When he set the cup back down on the table, I could see the barcode tattoo on his right arm, just like I had. He had other tattoos along with it, and he had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. _Derek Reese…_

"You know, if we go in there, we might get something to eat," said a joking voice behind me. I gasped and jumped back, into whoever had snuck up on me. The person caught me and turned me around. I looked up into the eyes of none other than John Connor. "For being a soldier in the future, you sure had your guard down," he added.

"Uhh, I just didn't expect you to sneak up on me like that," I said, trying to defend the obvious fact.

He shot me a skeptical look, but shrugged it off. "You looked pretty enthralled in spying on the kitchen."

I crossed my arms over my chest tightly and immediately regretted the motion. I winced just slightly, hoping John wouldn't notice, and narrowed my eyes at him. "I wasn't spying. I just-"

John shook his head and flashed a very brief smile. "I'm kidding, let's get something to eat."

Following John into the kitchen, I took a seat across from Derek. He glanced up at me briefly, took another drink of coffee, and stuck a bite of pancake in his mouth. I tried not to feel awkward, but with the silence except for the scrambled eggs Sarah was cooking, it was kinda hard. I murmured a quiet 'thank you' to John when he sat down with two plates, one for me and one for him.

"Sarah says you're from 2034," Derek said after several somewhat awkward moments on my part. He glanced up at me again, studying my face.

I nodded and swallowed, gulping down a bit of my orange juice as well. "That's right. The Resistance is really close to launching a strike against Skynet."

"Why aren't you still there, then?" Derek asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

I paused before I took another bite. Looking at my plate instead of into Derek's eyes, I replied, "I came back here on a classified mission."

"And you can't tell us anything about it?" he pressed further.

I glanced up and shook my head. "Not just yet."

Derek sighed slightly and folded his arms over his chest, but he seemed to accept my answer. At least I hoped he did. "I guess you'll tell us when the time is right, then…"

I finished off my pancakes in more silence, still just as awkward as before. I thanked Sarah for breakfast, then retreated back upstairs. The room I was in had a fairly large sized window next to the bed, so I just perched on the edge of the bed and gazed out the window. It amazed me that in just three years from now, if John, Sarah, and Derek didn't stop Skynet from even existing, all of these beautiful homes, the people inside them…everything…would be nothing but radioactive rubble.

* * * * *

After what seemed like forever, a floorboard creaked in my room. I turned my head to the side to see Cameron standing behind me barely a meter away. I tried not to tense. "I guess no one knocks, huh?"

Cameron tilted her head to one side, like she did before, stepped back to the doorway and knocked on the door. "It was open. I didn't think I needed to," she explained.

I shook my head and sighed slightly, looking back to the window. "I guess you didn't. You just seem to sneak up on me too quietly."

"I apologize." After a few minutes, Cameron sat in the chair next to the bed and studied me. _I never knew I was so interesting_, I said sarcastically in my head. "You're not who you said you are," she stated, still looking at me. "Your name isn't Mackenzie White."

I whipped my head around to glance out the doorway to see if anyone was there, then I glared at Cameron. "Not a single word, tin can. They can't know who I am just yet," I hissed.

She nodded. "I analyzed your blood when Sarah was getting the shrapnel out of your shoulder. Your DNA is very close to that of Derek Ree-"

I covered Cameron's mouth with my hand. "Shh! What don't you get about not telling anyone?"

Cameron only blinked and removed my hand. "No one is within hearing range. I would know."

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I narrowed my eyes at her and sat on the bed again, crossing my arms over my chest despite how much my shoulder ached. "You swear not to tell anyone who I really am unless I specifically tell you? Say it."

"I swear," she said without blinking. "I will not tell anyone who you are." All of a sudden, she got up and took two steps over to the desk that was in the room. "Someone is coming up the stairs," she murmured.

Moments later, Derek appeared in the doorway. He tossed some clothes and a pair of sneakers in my direction. "Put those on. You need to come with me."

I blinked and looked up at him. "Where are we going?"

"Well, if you're gonna live with us, you need fake papers. I know a guy in downtown LA who doesn't ask questions. Get changed into those clothes and meet me in the living room."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As I finished tying my shoes in the front seat of the Dodge Ram pickup Derek was driving, I sighed and sat back in my seat, just watching the city of Los Angeles race by. Derek glanced over at me and down at my arm, at the tattoo and at several scars. He turned his attention back to the road and asked, "How'd you get the tattoo?"

I looked down at my arm and smoothed my thumb over the barcode. "I was six. It was a year before my mom was killed. I was playing outside the bunker, like I shouldn't have been, and a triple-eight kidnapped me. It was probably the scariest time of my life, other than losing my mother," I explained.

He nodded and gave me another sidelong glance. "What about your father? Would he have been around then?"

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. Shaking my head, I kept my eyes on my window. "No, he wasn't. Mom said he died when I was three or something," I said, trying to make my voice seem thick. I wished so badly that I could tell him…

Derek sighed slightly and made a quiet comment, "You were a year younger than my brother when you got orphaned, then." After several long, silently awkward moments later, he cleared his throat. "When we get there, don't worry about saying anything. This guy, Felix, doesn't really like anyone he doesn't know."

"Why?" I asked, finally looking over at him.

"Good question, I wish I knew why. He's ultra-paranoid."

I laughed slightly. "I've known a few of those kinds of people."

"Yeah, so have I. Some of the best fighters, too." We rode in silence until we arrived at an old abandoned factory about ten to fifteen minutes later. Before either of us got out of the pickup, Derek turned to me and looked straight into my eyes. "We need to get your story straight. Your name on your fake papers will be Mackenzie Baum. You're Sarah's niece and your mother, her sister, is going through an emotional meltdown. That's why you're here for who knows how long," he elaborated.

I nodded obediently, taking note of the last name he said. "Okay, what about my dad?"

"Dead." Derek shrugged and added, "Why stray from the truth?" Nodding again, I got out of the truck and put the jacket on that Sarah gave me to hide the barcode tattoo. Derek slipped his gun out from under his seat and checked the magazine, then he cocked it and stuck it in his pants in the back, beneath his shirt. "You can never be too careful."

About five minutes later, I was standing next to Derek in front of a young Hispanic man. He only looked like he was in his mid-twenties. He had dark, spiky hair and deep, brooding brown eyes. Felix nodded slowly, his eyes giving Derek a full once over. "So, what are you here for?"

Derek hooked his thumbs in his pockets and looked Felix square in the eyes. "I need to get another fake ID from you. For her." He jerked his head in my direction. "It has to be believable and in the system."

Felix kept nodding. I could see he was mulling it over. He folded his arms over his chest, never taking his eyes off of Derek. His lackeys never took their eyes off Derek either. Felix had one very large Mexicans over each shoulder. One had his shirt off, displaying a chest-, and I would imagine back-, full of tattoos. The other had his shirt on, thankfully, but he had one hand on the collar of a not-so-nice looking pit bull. "Name your price and I'll think about it."

Derek's brow furrowed slightly and he thought about it for a few minutes. "I can't pay more than eight grand. I might be able to bump it up to ten, but even that's pushing it."

"I don't take anything less than 12 thou, and you know it," Felix said, shaking his head with a dissatisfied look on his face.

Derek sighed and crossed his arms. "Alright, I can make it ten, but not any more than that. Come on, Felix, you're not the only guy I know who can do this," he said, still looking him straight in the eyes.

Felix took a deep breath and smoothed his knuckled against the little goatee he had on his chin, wrinkling his nose as he faced not having Derek's business. "Okay fair enough, amigo. But I expect that ten grand to be in my hands within 24 hours. Otherwise my muchachos will have a use for their new guns." He gestured to the lackey with the pit bull, who pulled back his jacket to reveal a pretty big, shiny gun in a shoulder holster.

Derek never even flinched. He nodded and shook hands with Felix. "Fair enough."

* * * * *

Connor House

Later on that day, I found myself wandering aimlessly about the house. I was bored stiff. I couldn't believe I was actually missing my stress-filled life in 2034. Could you blame me, though? There, every five seconds something was happening. Here…nothing happened. The only exciting thing that happened here was when Cameron walked around in her underwear. And that was scary enough.

As the hours passed, I found a notebook that had been lying on the dining room table. Sarah gave the okay for me to use it. After pouring my thoughts into the notebook for a few more hours, the sun was beginning to set. I glanced out the window and saw there was a back yard. Deciding I needed a little fresh air, I got up, put the jacket on I wore earlier, and found myself laying in the grass, staring up at the darkening sky. Before too much longer, a few stars had blinked themselves into the night sky and were twinkling away.

When it was completely dark, I heard someone step onto the back porch. In my peripheral vision, I could tell it was only John. I had my hands behind my head, still just gazing at the stars. "You can't even see the stars in 2034," I sighed as John sat next to me.

He leaned back and looked up at the sky as well, supporting himself up by his elbows. He shook his head slightly. "I can't even imagine not being able to see them…"

I grimaced as I sat up, draping my arms over my knees. I probably shouldn't have been laying on my shoulder as long as I had been, as it was stiff and was aching now. "Sometimes you can barely see the sun. The sky is always black, and there's hardly a time when Skynet doesn't have at least one HK-aerial hovering around somewhere," I explained.

John sighed and stayed silent for several long moments. He glanced over at me and asked, "How old are you?"

Laughing slightly, I glanced back at John. "I'm 17, but I feel like I've been 30 my entire life." I shook my head. "Growing up and knowing nothing but war can do that to a kid."

He nodded. "Or being chased your whole life by metal killing machines."

"Even then, until you see your best friends or your own mother gunned down by those same metal killing machines, you still have a little of that innocence you were born with."

John tensed and shook his head again, pressing his lips into a thin line this time. "Not me. I've never had that innocence. All my life, I've had this hero crap shoved down my throat and been told I'm someone special. Well, I'm not that person. Maybe I will be, but only after Skynet kills 98 percent of all life. I'm not sure I ever will be 'that guy'," he said, disgust echoing in his voice.

"Hey," I said firmly, looking John straight in the eyes, "Don't you dare think that. You may not _want_ to be the heroic John Connor that saves human life, but you are. Deep down, in your soul, whether you like it or not…you _are_ 'that guy.' The only reason mankind has even survived, or even thrived, as long as 2034 is because people have had hope. They've had hope and faith in _you_, John, they've looked up to you."

John looked taken aback by my little outburst. He sat up as well and grabbed a handful of grass, ripping it out angrily. "How come I don't feel like some all-important leader then?" he asked, looking at his hands, picking one of the blades of grass he ripped out, apart.

I took a deep breath and shrugged my shoulders, sort of regretting the motion. "You won't until it happens, probably." I gave John a sidelong glance. "But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy life as it is now. It doesn't mean you can't protect this life.

Strive to make sure Skynet is never born. Don't let the innocence of this life slip through your fingers. You were born knowing you had to accomplish something great, so use what you know to keep the horrible future Derek and I have always known from ever happening."

There was a long moment of silence between us as my words sunk in. John kept fidgeting with the blades of grass until he nodded. He had a more resigned expression now. He sighed slightly and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, looking up to meet my gaze.

I gave him a little smile and smacked his arm playfully. "Come on, let's go inside and get something to eat, I'm starved!" I jumped to my feet, ignoring my aching shoulder, and raced to the back door.

John chuckled slightly and shook his head, following after me.

* * * * *

Zeira Corporations

Alex Payne sat uncomfortably in the waiting room right outside Catherine Weaver's office. He was somewhat tall, being 5'11" in height, and had curly brown hair, intelligent emerald eyes, and over all, wasn't too bad looking for a biochemist.

He resituated himself, awkwardly squeaking in the leather chair he sat in, and clutched his briefcase closer, giving the receptionist a small, awkward smile.

Inside his briefcase was the formula for a bioweapon he had been working on for the past three years of his life. In the wrong hands, this weapon could potentially decimate two-thirds of the world's population. The only reason he was here at Zeira Corporations, meeting with Catherine Weaver was because he needed to test the virus…but he had neither the funding nor the correct equipment. He had received an invitation to negotiate a price for the testing of his virus, in which Zeira Corporations would endorse the bioweapon and propose a military contract with the United States. Or perhaps even other countries.

The receptionist glanced at Alex from over her wire-rimmed glasses. "Ms. Weaver will see you now, Mr. Payne."

Alex nodded and stood, straightening his tie as he walked over to the door. He felt so much more comfortable in his lab coat than in this executive suit. Besides…that tie was getting itchy.

"Ah, Mr. Payne, welcome," said a red-haired woman as she stood behind her seemingly solid steel desk. She extended her hand and gave him an awkward, cold smile. "I am Catherine Weaver. Shall we begin?"

He nodded and flashed an equally as awkward grin. "Yes, and please, call me Alex."

Catherine nodded and tilted her head to one side. "All right…Alex."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note** Well, this is Chapter 3 of __Blood is Thicker than Coltan__. I hope all of you enjoy it! This chapter might seem a little rushed because…well, it kind of was. I had been working on it like crazy all weekend and it seemed to get more and more confusing and I was getting tired of it, which is never good._

_Anyways, the way I write doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense when it comes out in the form. So, I guess from now on I'll put asterisks to indicate a new paragraph and I'll keep putting either dates or specific locations after the asterisks to indicate where we are in the story._

_Also, I've thought about Mackenzie's past quite a bit and thought it might make a good side story to go along with what is happening currently. I'm starting this side story in this chapter, as you can see, and it's starting from where Mackenzie gets captured by Skynet. You'll see why soon. ;D Well, I should probably shut up now, otherwise this might turn into a novel and I'll give the entire plot away!_

_Enjoy Chapter 3!_

_-- Carissa_

Chapter 3

June 25th, 2023

"Tyler!" hissed a six-year-old Mackenzie. "Tyler, come back!" She and Sierra watched their blonde-haired friend disappear among the rubble. Mackenzie sighed and turned to her friend. "Now what are we gonna do? We're not supposed to go outside at all!" she said exasperatingly.

"Well we can't just leave him out there either, Mac," Sierra pointed out. The two girls were sitting just inside the bunker door, watching an HK-aerial hovering around, scanning the ground with its spotlight.

Mackenzie just chewed on her lip nervously. "C-can't we just have your dad go out and find him?" she asked.

"Ugh, Mackenzie, you can't just stay in here your entire life. You do want to kill one of those tin cans, don't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Girls! There you are, you're not supposed to be here!" The two girls whipped their heads around to see Sierra's father jogging down the corridor toward them. He stopped and frowned. "Where's Tyler?"

"Out there," Sierra replied bluntly, pointing out the door.

Sierra's father sighed and ran his hand over his face. "What were you guys doing over here in the first place?" he scolded, tugging both girls by their wrists away from the door.

"W-we were just playing, then Tyler dared us to go out and get the ball we lost. We wouldn't do it, so he got mad and went out there anyways," Mackenzie explained, trying to keep herself from going into hysterics. She looked up at him and tugged on his sleeve. "Please get him back, Mr. Hayes."

He gave Mackenzie a reassuring smile and tousled her hair. "Don't worry, I'll find him."

* * * * *

Connor House, 2009

"Where's Derek?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen after Sarah called me to have lunch.

John handed me a plate with a turkey sandwich on it. He shrugged and took a bite of his own sandwich. "He's out running. He should be back in a few hours."

"Oh," I said, blinking and sitting down at the table. My shoulders drooped slightly. "Where does he go?"

"West," Cameron said matter-of-factly. "He goes to a park, then to a food court on the other side of it. You can still catch him. He left approximately 4.7 minutes ago."

I laughed slightly as I grabbed half of my sandwich and wrapped it in a napkin. "You keep pretty tight tabs on everyone don't you, Tin Miss?" As she opened her mouth to reply, I held up my hand. "On second thought, don't answer that."

* * * * *

Cameron was right. I found Derek within a matter of minutes, but instead of getting his attention right off, I wanted to follow him for a bit. One thing was certain, no one was out of shape at the Connor house. He was a good runner, and thankfully I could keep up with him since I was still in pretty good shape from living in 2034 just a week before.

Eventually I followed him through the park and to the food court, just like Cameron said. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him buy a hotdog.

"So this is where you go?" I asked as I walked up to him and leaned against the bench he was sitting on.

Derek took another bite of his hotdog and gave me a sidelong glance. "And how many times do you stalk me?" he asked, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I laughed and shook my head, scuffing my feet in the grass. "This is the first time, honest."

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, whatever. As long as you don't make a habit out of it," he said, giving me a half-reprimanding/half-playful look. After a long silence filled with Derek finishing off his hotdog, we watched the people in the park. There weren't many kids running around since they were all in school, but that didn't keep old couples from feeding the pigeons or younger couples from playing with their dog. "When I was growing up, there was a park like this near our house. I used to play baseball with my brother, Kyle, all day sometimes," Derek said, finally breaking the silence.

A small smile flickered across my face. "That must have been awesome," I commented.

Derek nodded. "Yeah, it was. There's not much for a teenager and his little brother to worry about." He glanced over at me. "Why did you follow me?"

I chewed on my lip for a few moments and looked down at my feet, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I wanted to tell you something."

He raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what?"

"About my mission," I met his glance, "I'm supposed to stop Alex Payne, a biochemist, from making a bioweapon Skynet will use in the future."

Derek frowned slightly and thought for a few minutes. "Stop him how exactly? Sarah helped Miles Dyson destroy his work that would have created Skynet, yet it was still created."

"We need to tell him what Skynet is, like I assume Sarah did with Dyson." I studied his eyes for a few moments. "Trust me, he'll believe us."

Derek shook his head and walked away a few steps. He turned back to me, his arms folded over his chest tightly, and he looked at me sternly. "How can I trust you when you wouldn't tell me your mission right off the bat? And how do you _know_ he won't just create this bioweapon again after we've destroyed his work? Chances are, this guy has all he needs to know right up here," he said, tapping one of his temples.

Clenching my hands into fists in frustration, I looked away from Derek for a few minutes. I looked back straight into his eyes and said, "I just know, okay? It's a long story but I know him…knew him. If he knew that his virus was to be used like that, he'd destroy it and he'd kill himself before he'd create it again…"

"Then why'd he create it in the first place?" Derek asked bluntly.

I shook my head and sighed, walking away from the bench I was still leaning against, past Derek. "War changes a person…"

He caught me by my elbow when I passed him. After a few long moments, he glanced into my eyes. "You're right, war does change a person. But sometimes it's not enough."

* * * * *

2023

Three hours later, Mr. Hayes and Tyler still hadn't returned, and Mackenzie had been pacing nervously ever since Sierra's father left the bunker with one other Resistance fighter. "Mac, if you keep doing that, you'll have a hole wore through the floor. And I'm pretty sure that's kinda hard to do with solid steel," Sierra remarked.

Mackenzie flashed her ebony-skinned friend an exasperated glance. "Sh-shouldn't they be back by now, though? I mean…what if they got captured by Skynet?! They could be killed and…and-"

"Mackenzie, calm down!" Sierra half-yelled. She stopped her friend's pacing by stepping in front of her and grabbing her by the shoulders. "They're all right, okay? Maybe they just got cornered somewhere and are waiting for a Skynet patrol to pass so they can get back here and _not_ get captured."

That didn't satisfy her, however. She tore herself away from Sierra and started walking toward the bunker door. "That's it, I have to go out and find them."

"Whoa, whoa! Mac, you would've peed your pants if you put one foot out there. Now you _want_ to go and look for him? You've gone insane in a matter of minutes!"

"No, I just want Tyler back, and your dad too. They're in danger and it's my fault…"

"Ugh no it's no-" Sierra stopped short as Mackenzie threw the door open and ran out, disappearing into the rubble just like Tyler did. "Mackenzie!" She sighed and scowled, slamming the door shut again and plopping herself onto a crate just inside the door.

* * * * *

Being outside the bunker was terrifying to Mackenzie. With HK-aerials flying overhead and shots ringing through the air from the terminators on the ground, she was absolutely petrified. These were all sounds she had lived with and known every day, but they'd always been muffled by the bunker she lived in all her life.

"Tyler!" she cried out, her voice being drowned out by the drone of an HK-aerial flying right overhead. "Tyler!!! Mr. Hayes!" The spotlight of the HK blinded Mackenzie. She tried hiding under some scrap metal, but it was no use; she had been spotted. Something touched her shoulder and she screamed, running out from her hiding place and smacking right into a T-888. She glanced up, terror seizing her, straight into the glowing red eyes of the triple-eight.

* * * * *

2009

An hour later, after going back home and telling Sarah about Alex, Derek, John, and I were on stake-out watching his house. Derek and I were in the front seat of the Dodge Ram and John was in the back with his laptop. Nothing had happened so far and it didn't look like anything was going to happen.

"How long exactly are we going to have to be here?" John asked after a few more hours. I had to say, I was getting pretty bored as well. I just wanted to go up, knock on the door, and see if this is the house we were supposed to be watching in the first place.

"As long as it takes for Mac to ID the guy and make sure he's who we're looking for," Derek replied, leaning back in his seat a bit. I was glad it hadn't taken very long for my nickname to catch on. "Hopefully he'll come out before too much longer."

I blinked wide eyes at a black Mercedes-Benz W219 as it rolled down the street and right into Alex's driveway. "We may not have to wait much longer," I murmured, grabbing Derek's binoculars. The windows of the car were darkly tinted, so I couldn't see who was in the vehicle, but I had a feeling I wouldn't have to wait to see who that was either. The driver got out of the car and walked around to the rear passenger-side door, opening it to reveal a red-haired woman wearing a very expensive-looking white Versace coat, and equally as expensive-looking gold and white stiletto heels. She got out and walked to the front door.

"Camera," Derek said to John, snapping several pictures of the woman and of the car. My heart lurched as Alex answered the door. It was Alex all right; the Alex I knew, just a few decades younger.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So how does Alex Payne relate to Skynet?" Sarah asked after we had gotten home. The pictures Derek took were spread all across the kitchen table.

"He is currently developing a virus that Skynet will use against the Resistance in the future," Cameron said, repeating what I had told them earlier.

"We know that already. How does Skynet get a hold of his virus?" Sarah asked, somewhat frustrated. She sat back in her chair and looked up at me sternly.

After meeting her glance, I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath. "Skynet somehow helps Alex fund the testing he needs to put the virus through. The best chance they'd have of doing that is sending another Terminator back for this specific purpose, along with other purposes along the same parameters, that way it doesn't seem suspicious." I exchanged glances with both Sarah and Derek. "There's really no need to doubt that that Terminator is already here and has been for several years. Now is when it's set and ready to pique Alex's interest. Too early, and he'd get suspicious. Too late, and he'd probably have another sponsor."

Sarah nodded slowly, considering what I said, while Derek and I still studied the pictures. It was so odd to see these pictures of Alex. He was so young; the Alex I was used to had more thoughtful eyes, so much wiser…

"And this woman, who is she?" Derek asked, picking up one of the pictures of the woman he managed to take. Her fiery red hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail and her eyes were sharp, almost menacing. I got the same uneasy feeling I had earlier when I looked at the picture of her. Something was off about her, and I'd bet a million bucks that it involved metal.

John was sitting at the table as well, opposite Sarah, tapping away at his laptop. His concentrated expression meant he was getting close to figuring out who the mystery woman was. I walked around behind him, resting my hands on the back of his chair as I watched the screen. Only a few seconds later did he click a link to a website and the same woman appeared on screen. John took a deep breath and pressed his lips together. "I think we found her." He turned his computer so Sarah, Derek, and Cameron could see. "Catherine Weaver, CEO of Zeira Corporations. She's the key probably," John said.

Sarah nodded. "We'll worry about her when the time comes. We need options of what to do about Alex."

"We need to convince him to destroy all his work," I said. "That'll mean we have to tell him about Skynet. He'll believe us if we do."

"Or we just need to kill him and torch all his stuff," Derek remarked.

My eyes popped wide open. "No!" I said, shaking my head and folding my arms over my chest stubbornly. "We can't kill him!" I stared at Derek in shock. How could he be so cold after what he and I talked about earlier, when I told him I knew Alex.

"Why not? It seems like the only way to make sure Skynet doesn't get a hold of the virus at all, especially without a whole lot of collateral if we can't make sure Skynet isn't built," he shot back, giving me the same glare I was shooting him.

"Collateral? That's all he is?!" I tried to control my voice to keep it from cracking, but I couldn't. "Alex could still be useful to the Resistance, he's a biochemist for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, in what way exactly? Creating viruses to give to a genocidal regime of machines? That's _really_ helpful," Derek debated, his voice rising slightly. "You might say you know this guy, but you don't know _this_ Alex, do you? You know the future, humbled one, not present-Alex."

"Derek," Sarah said firmly, trying to get him to stop.

"She needs to hear this, Sarah. She needs to understand." He huffed and shook his head in frustration. "The only real chance _we_ have of stopping this virus from being fully developed is killing him. That way, we destroy all chances of him ever creating it again. I don't doubt that he'll come to realize the truth and not create it again. But he's human, and humans can be broken by machines. If Skynet doesn't like the way he's acting, what's to stop that Terminator manipulating him from torturing the hell out of him to get the formula again? There's only so much we can do by torching his computers."

By this time I was glaring at the floor, trying to blink back tears of anger and frustration. I clenched my hands into fists slightly, gripping my shirt and digging my fingernails into my sides to keep myself from launching a tirade into Derek. I hated to admit that, logically, Derek had an exceedingly true and valid point. But that didn't mean I had to agree with it. Emotionally, I could not let him kill Alex. "He'll understand," I murmured, looking up into Derek's eyes again. "We _can't_ kill him. You wouldn't understand why." I bit my lip and turned on my heels, running upstairs before the tears could escape.

* * * * *

June 26th, 2023

Mackenzie's head was spinning as she regained consciousness. Never before had the little girl known such pain and dizziness. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the spinning and nausea to stop. After what seemed like hours, she finally opened her eyes. It looked like she was in the back of an army truck, which would explain the rocking and bouncing. Mackenzie sat up and rubbed her eyes, or at least she tried to. Her hands and ankles were shackled and she, along with several other prisoners, were laying or sitting in the back of a truck.

All of a sudden, Mackenzie felt hands behind her wipe the dirt she attempted to get out of her eyes away. She looked over to see a middle-aged with kind, green eyes and curly hair. "There," he murmured, giving the little girl a reassuring smile. Having him be so kind to her comforted Mackenzie. "What's your name?" he asked.

"M-mackenzie," she stuttered, fidgeting with the chain that bound her ankles together.

One of the prisoners, who had been sitting still as a statue, whipped his head around to Mackenzie and glared at her and his eyes flashed red, proving himself to not be a prisoner after all. She stopped fidgeting with the chain immediately and stared, wide eyed, at the face of one of her captors. The skin on half of his head was gone somehow and his opposite cheek had a hole through it, exposing his metal teeth and jaw.

"Don't let him scare you. He won't do anything unless you give him a reason to," said the man over Mackenzie's shoulder. She nodded obediently, without a word.

After a few more hours, or what seemed like hours, later, the truck finally stopped. The cloth covering the back of the truck was ripped off by a T-888 with several others standing behind him. One of them grabbed Mackenzie by the wrists and yanked her out of the truck, practically dragging her. Before the triple-eight tossed Mackenzie into a room with the rest of the prisoners, he held her up by her right arm and held a device a few inches from her wrist. Searing pain shot through Mackenzie's arm as the device tattooed a barcode and number on her wrist.

Although she screamed out in pain, Mackenzie tried not to cry as hard as she could. Finally, after the triple-eight had made its rounds giving every one of the prisoners in the room the same tattoo, the man Mackenzie met earlier found her again and handed her a small canteen of water. "Drink up, you need it."

"B-but-"

He chuckled softly and shook his head, pushing the canteen toward her more. "Drink. Don't worry about it."

* * * * *

2009

I managed to find a hiding place where no one would bother me, thankfully. After several hours, the sun had set and I found myself gazing up at the stars again, on the roof of the house. I was glad no one had found me yet…or had even bothered to find me. I still couldn't believe how harsh Derek had been. After thinking about it, though, I suppose it didn't surprise me after all. He didn't know and definitely wasn't attached to Alex in any way. I'm not even sure Sarah understood why we couldn't kill him. And no one would understand until I explained it to them, probably, which was something I wasn't ready to do just yet.

I sighed and leaned back against the exterior wall of the house, looking up at the stars. There weren't as many in the sky tonight as there had been before. Clouds covered the moon, and I guessed there was a storm that would come before long. Running my hands over my face, I couldn't help but think jumping back here was at least a little bit of a bad idea. I shook my head, immediately dismissing the idea. If I hadn't jumped back, Alex would have been killed anyways. I shivered slightly and rubbed my arms as a chill breeze came up. The next thing I know, someone's jacket was being draped over my shoulder. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Derek sitting beside me. "Come to give me another lecture?" I sighed, looking at my hands.

"No," he said, glancing up at the sky. "I came to apologize." I blinked and looked up at Derek, watching him study the sky. That was really unexpected. I didn't think he'd apologize so quickly, or at all for that matter.

After a long, silent moment passed, I bit my lip and looked back to my hands, fidgeting with my fingers. "I should probably apologize to you too, Derek," I said, my voice low. I could feel his gaze on me, so I continued. "You were right. I really don't know this Alex, present-Alex, like I know future-Alex. I… I shouldn't have been so defensive, I'm sorry." I looked up to meet his gaze.

Derek stared at me for a few moments, just studying my face, and answered, "Why is Alex so important to you?"

I bit my lip and held eye contact for only a minute longer. Fidgeting with the zipper of Derek's jacket, I said. "He saved my life once, and I feel indebted to him now."

He nodded slowly. "I can definitely understand that," he commented. "Was it when you were in the work camp?"

I blinked in surprise and nodded. "How'd you know?"

Derek shrugged and the corners of his mouth pulled up in a slight grin. "You said you were six when you got captured. It'd be kinda hard for a little girl that age to survive without anyone."

Nodding, I pulled his jacket around my shoulders a bit tighter, taking in the scent of it. I considered telling him, but I knew it was still too early. "You're right, I guess."

Derek looked over at me for a few moments before getting up and crawling through the window. He extended his hand toward me. "Follow me."

"It's the middle of the night, where are we going?" I asked, giving him an inquisitive look as he helped me back through the window.

A small grin flashed across his face and he shook his head. "You'll find out, come on."

* * *

As it turned out, Derek led me to storage place and straight to one of the storage containers…with a giant circular hole in it. My eyes widened when I got closer to it. The metal of the storage unit was completely melted in a seemingly perfect spherical shape. Thank goodness it was empty, otherwise some poor family somewhere out there would have been so mad if they saw half their stuff was gone without a trace.

"This is where I found you," Derek said, running his fingers over the round, melted edge of the container.

I turned my face away from him when I felt my cheeks get hotter in sheer embarrassment. I was glad it was dark, but I was silently cursing the lights right over this storage unit. "What were you doing all the way out here?" I asked him when I thought my cheeks weren't as red.

He didn't answer for a few short moments, almost trying to formulate an answer it seemed. "I was taking an early morning run and I saw a blue glow. I remembered what it was from, so I checked it out and found you here, already unconscious." I nodded and stepped into the middle of the circular depression. Derek looked at me long and hard for several minutes before adding, "That's quite the scar on your back. I only know of one weapon that does that much damage."

I nodded and wrapped my arms around myself, furrowing my eyebrows at the memory of the pain. "Yeah, I got that scar when I was fourteen. Two of my fellow soldiers and I managed to evade capture from a troop of tin cans, but not without paying for it. I guess I was the unlucky one who just barely missed being fried alive by a huge energy bolt," I explained. Just thinking of the pain nearly made me buckle over.

Derek grimaced and shook his head. "One thing that'll never change about tin cans, they'll always hurt you."

Nodding in agreement, I leaned against the far edge of the container. Derek and I stood there for who knows how long, just studying each other. From what I could gather just by looking into his eyes, he had so much more to him than anyone could imagine. So many stories that I couldn't begin to comprehend. I'd bet he was getting the same vibe from me. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that he still didn't trust me completely, which was to be expected. I just hoped he wouldn't catch on to the fact that I was still hiding something from him.

I decided to finally break the silence. It was time for him to tell about his past. "How did you get the tattoo?" I asked him, gesturing toward his arm.

Derek extended his arm, displaying the barcode. "It wasn't too long before I jumped back here. Connor wanted me, my brother Kyle, and two other guys to check something out up top, over the tunnels we called home. Kyle said he smelled jet fuel, then we saw some triple-eights hauling what looked like an old jet engine. There were rumors about Skynet building a secret weapon." He paused for a moment, rubbing his hand over his stubbly chin. "Kyle was getting a closer look at it when we were spotted. There were a couple aerials that picked some shots at Kyle. He shot back a few times and when I was running toward him, I was stopped by another triple-eight."

I blinked wide eyes. "What happened to Kyle?" I asked, compelled to hear more.

Derek sighed and glanced up at me with a grim expression on his face. "That was the last time I ever saw Kyle. He must have gotten away, because the next thing I hear about him when me and the other guys got out of Skynet control was that he and Connor found some sort of factory, I guess. They both went in, but Connor was the only one to come back out, then they blew the whole place up," he explained further.

I was floored. I knew what it was like to lose a family member; I just couldn't imagine how painful it must have been for Derek, losing your last known blood relative. "You didn't see him again? What happened to him then?"

"He was sent back in time to save John before he was even born."

"And was he…"

"Killed?" Derek finished for me. He sighed slightly and shoved his hands in his pockets, nodding in answer to my question. "He was killed fighting the metal who was sent back to kill Sarah, but not before fathering-"

"John," I finished that time. It all made sense now. I always wondered why the future-John was so protective over me and why he never let me lead top priority missions when I served under him. Derek gave me a confused look, as if asking me silently, 'How the hell did you know that?' I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my neck. "John hasn't told me much of anything, but it adds up."

Derek eyed me for a few minutes longer before continuing. "You're right, though. Kyle is John's father." He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Kyle wouldn't believe you if you told him John was his son. He'd think you were playing a joke on him."

I smiled and nodded, wondering if Derek would have a similar reaction. "Yeah, I bet," I said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

Derek laughed and jerked his head in the direction we had walked from. "Come on, let's go home and get some rest. We have another full day tomorrow."

I certainly didn't argue with that, yawning again as I followed him back to the Ram. It probably was hardly a 20-minute ride back home, but I struggled to keep my eyes open. I smiled slightly as I remembered Derek's laugh, just before I fell asleep.

* * *

Derek shook his head slightly once he pulled into the driveway at the house. He had glanced over at Mackenzie just before turning the corner to the street the house was on and she had fallen asleep during the ride back. Rather than just wake her up, he quietly got out of the pickup and walked over to the passenger side, catching her as he opened the door. He picked her up, made his way into the house, and laid her on the couch in the living room, covering her with a blanket and brushing some of her dark brown hair from her face. A floorboard squeaked and he saw Sarah out of the corner of his eye.

"Where were you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Derek walked over to Sarah and turned around, watching Mackenzie sleep. "I took her to see where I found her." He shrugged. "I figured it wouldn't hurt." After a few very long moments of watching her sleep, Derek sighed slightly. "She's quite the girl. She's tough and a pretty good soldier, it sounds like."

"But she's too emotional sometimes."

"That doesn't mean she's not passionate about stopping Skynet. I haven't seen fire like that in someone's eyes since…" He shook his head, dismissing his thought.

"She's got a lot to prove yet, Derek," Sarah murmured before turning and starting up the stairs.

Before Derek followed, he kept watching Mackenzie sleep for a few moments. She reminded him so much of someone…he just couldn't put his finger on it quite.

* * * * *

Zeira Corporations Laboratory

"And this is our laboratory, which concludes the entire tour of Zeira Corporations," said a pleasant, brown-haired girl with an English accent. She had been leading Alex Payne through the entire 250 stories that the corporate giant Zeira Corporations called home. Currently, she was leading him through the pristine white lab filled with equipment that would make most scientists drool.

Alex was just about to that point already. He struggled to keep the calm, coolly interested expression he had, rather than having his eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape or jumping around like a kid in a candy store. He nodded slowly, and walked around the lab a bit more, getting a closer look at the microscopes he'd only dreamed of touching and the stacks of petrie dishes.

"Incredible, isn't it?" asked a somewhat familiar voice. Alex turned around quickly to see Catherine Weaver standing in the place where the guide had been just seconds before. It was beyond freaky how she could appear seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uh, yeah, it is pretty outstanding. All this equipment must have cost millions," Alex said, rubbing the back of his neck to try and calm his nerves. Whenever he was around Weaver, he felt so uneasy and he was still fairly untrusting of her.

"It did," Catherine said brusquely. She turned on her heels and began walking the lab. "Come, let's go up to my office. You can tell me what you think so far.

Alex sighed slightly, not wanting to leave the comforts of the laboratory for the cold, awkward room Catherine called her office. He followed her obediently, afraid if he didn't do as he was told, he'd get scolded. He tried to stifle a small laugh as he thought of what this felt like. To him, it felt like he was in middle school again, being sent to the principal's office for setting the frogs in Biology class that were to be dissected free in the gym during the girl's basketball practice.

Before they had gotten to the elevator, Alex noticed a door he hadn't gone through yet on the tour. He stopped short and pointed to the door. "What's in here?" he asked, still feeling like a little kid again.

Catherine stopped abruptly as well and snapped her head to the side, looking over her shoulder. She gave Alex a small, sly smile and shook her head. "In there is a secret project of mine. I'll show it to you in due time." And with that, she continued down the tunnel-like hallway to the elevator.

Alex frowned at the door for a few minutes, getting an even bigger uneasy feeling for a few moments, and continued following Catherine to the elevator.

A few moments later, Catherine sat herself in the large, plush leather chair behind her chunk of steel for a desk. "What do you think of my offer, Mr. Payne?" she asked, gesturing toward one of the chairs in front of her desk for Alex to sit in.

He sat on the edge of one of the chairs, not wanting to make the mistake of almost sinking into the chair as he had before, when he first met with Catherine. "Well, ah…it certainly is impressive," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck again nervously.

"And?" she pressed further, tilting her head to one side in an inquisitive way.

Alex chewed on the inside of his lip. With all this pressure, he felt he should say yes, but he still was uneasy about all this. "Let me sleep on it, and I'll see what I think tomorrow." He gave Catherine a smile. "Just let it sink in."

She flashed his smile back at him for a brief three seconds, then pressed her lips into a thin line. "As you wish," she said curtly.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note** Well, here is Chapter 5…frickin' finally! lol, I'm sooooo sorry that took so long. I kept getting uber distracted with this chapter, and I didn't have a lot of motivation also. But, that's all over, thankfully, and I absolutely can't wait for the next episode of T: SCC!_

_As you may have noticed if you read the chapter before you read this, I gave Mackenzie's best friend Tyler, Thomas Dekker's last name purely as a tribute to him. lol, He's so awesome, and an incredibly amazing actor, so yeah ^_^ Also, his last name was the only one I could think of. __

_Annnnd, we have a deeper picture of who Alex is to Mackenzie. Writing those parts are so fun, I love developing the backstory more._

_Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, and I'm eager to see what you all think!_

Chapter 5

Sunlight pierced through my eyelids. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking the sleep from them, and glanced around. My thoughts were still foggy as I tried to remember what happened before I fell asleep. I realized I must have fallen asleep in the ride back to the house after Derek took me to the storage warehouse. That must have been what had happened, because I was still wearing Derek's olive green army jacket.

Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I got up and walked into the kitchen. Usually either Sarah or Derek would be there this early in the morning, but no one was there, not even John. Frowning slightly to myself, I opened the cabinet above the sink, to the right, and got a cereal bowl out. I would try to find them after I'd had something to eat.

After I had rinsed my bowl and spoon, I wandered the house to see if anyone was actually here. _Oh great, I feel like Cameron now_, I said to myself, stifling a laugh. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I could hear the steady beat of John's favorite band coming from his room. Sure enough, I found John at his desk, doing something on his laptop.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, leaning on the doorjamb to his room.

John shrugged and looked over his shoulder at me. "I think Derek is out running, and Cameron went to the grocery store with Mom." He raised one eyebrow, looking me up and down. "And why are you wearing Derek's jacket?"

I laughed slightly and messed with the cuff on one of the sleeves. "He let me borrow it last night, and I guess he didn't get it back." John nodded and turned back to his computer. I walked into his room, sat on his bed, and laid back to stare at the ceiling. The story Derek told me was still tumbling around in my head. I would've loved to have met Kyle…

Putting my hands behind my head, I chewed on my lower lip slightly. This secret I had was burning in the back of my mind, like I needed to tell someone. Truth be told, I had never been very good at all with keeping other people's secrets, let alone my own. I needed to tell _someone_, though. Cameron already knew who I was; I didn't even have to tell her. I wanted to tell John, but would he confide in his uncle?

Derek couldn't know just yet. I didn't want him treating me any differently or worrying over me. The last thing I needed right now was an over-protective father. But then again, I had no guarantee that he _would_ be the over-protective type. Maybe he'd just reject me… I prayed that wouldn't happen. I wonder what would have happened if Kyle knew John was his son…

"Have you always known Kyle Reese was your father?" I asked suddenly, sitting up to look at John.

He turned around and looked at me for a long time with narrowed eyes. I met his gaze and folded my arms over my chest when he answered, "Who told you?"

"Derek. Well, sort of. He was telling me about Kyle and I kinda just put it together," I said, giving him a sheepish grin.

John nodded and turned around fully, to face me. "Yeah, I have always known Kyle was my dad." He frowned slightly and asked, "Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders and looked down at my feet. "I didn't always know who my dad was. Mom used to tell me stories of how my dad was a hero and how he saved us from the machines. Of course, what else do you tell a five year old who's wondering why she doesn't have a daddy when her best friends do?"

John rubbed the back of his neck. "There isn't anything else you can say."

I nodded and sighed slightly again, flopping back on John's bed. "You can say that again…"

"Hey," John said, nudging my knee. "I want to show you something." Sitting up, I saw him grab a small, silver object off his desk. "I'm guessing you don't know what this is?"

Taking the object from him, I studied it for a few minutes. It was rectangular in shape with a green stripe down both sides. On one end it had a cap and what looked like a plug-in under it. "Uhh, not really. What is it?"

"It's a flash drive. It holds data, like off computers. When you go to Alex's place with Mom and Derek, you'll need to find his computer and copy his entire hard disk to it."

I blinked and handed the flash drive back to John, giving him an apprehensive look. "I hope you're gonna show me how. I have very little knowledge of computers, you know."

John chuckled slightly, but right as he was about to answer, Cameron stepped into the room, interrupting him. She exchanged a glance with John, then looked to me. "Derek wants to see you," she said in her natural deadpan voice.

Nodding, I got up and glanced back at John when I got to the doorway. "You'll have to show me when Derek's done with me." He nodded, and I jogged down the stairs.

* * *

John kept his eyes on Mackenzie until he couldn't see or hear her anymore. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he sighed and turned back to his desk.

"You don't trust her," Cameron stated.

He shook his head. "No, I don't trust her. I don't think any of us should. Not just yet." After a few moments, he glanced up at Cameron, raising an eyebrow at her slightly. "Why? What's up?" he asked.

Cameron sat lightly on his bed, tilting her head to one side. "I have to tell you something. It concerns Mackenzie."

John narrowed his eyes again and glanced out his door again. He had a feeling that whatever Mackenzie had been hiding wouldn't be hidden for much longer.

* * *

I found Derek in the driveway helping Sarah unload the groceries from the Cherokee she and Cameron had bought. "You wanted to see me?" I asked, taking two paper bags from him.

He nodded and grabbed a couple more bags. "Yeah, I'll explain it when we get inside with these and put everything away."

Once we got all the bags into the kitchen, I helped unload them. I smiled and called over my shoulder to Derek teasingly, "When Cameron said you wanted to see me, I thought you'd want my help on something a little bigger than groceries."

Derek flashed me a lopsided grin as he put two half-gallons of milk into the fridge. "You, Sarah, and I are going to Alex's house again to see if he has anything about Weaver and to get the stuff off his computer. John told you about that, right?"

I nodded and started stacking cans of vegetables in the pantry. "Yeah, he told me he was going to show me how to do something with a flash drive. Why isn't he coming along to do it himself?"

"He and Cameron are going to try to find out as much as they can about Catherine Weaver. If they can't find anything, we'll have to get into the Zeira Corp. servers somehow," Sarah explained.

"And that's if we can get Alex to cooperate," Derek added after he disappeared into the living room, retrieving a large, black duffle bag with his deconstructed sniper rifle, a shotgun, two Glock 17 pistols, and several boxes of extra ammo in it.

Pressing my lips together into a thin line, I gave the bag a critical glance. "We aren't going to kill him, are we?"

Derek sighed and gave me a hardened look. "It all depends on whether or not that metal comes after him after we've destroyed his work.

* * * * *

2023

"Keep up, slowpoke!" Tyler called over his shoulder as Mackenzie chased him through the tunnels they called home. He laughed when she got close to catching him. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"I could if you slowed down!" she yelled back, straining her legs to go faster.

"But the whole point of tag is to – OOPH!" Both Tyler and Mackenzie were broadsided and skidded into the far wall.

"Ha! I got you both!" Sierra said victoriously through her giggle fit as her two friends struggled to find their balance again.

While Mackenzie couldn't help giggling as well, Tyler had an absolute scowl on his face. "Sierra! You can't do that! It's not fair; I was winning!"

Sierra pushed her hair out of her face and still couldn't keep from laughing. "Come on, Ty, there's no rules against ambushing," she jibed.

Tyler wrinkled his freckled nose and glared at Sierra. "Yeah, well we weren't playing hide and seek, we were playing tag."

Mackenzie rolled her eyes at her two friends. "Guys, is it so hard to not fight?"

Both Tyler and Sierra's eyes popped wide open and they paled slightly. "Uhh, M-Mackenzie?" Tyler began.

"What? I've had you guys make up befo-" she stopped abruptly as she felt a cold, hard grasp on her shoulder. Turning around, she stared straight up into the red, glowing gaze of a T-888.

Gasping, Mackenzie sat straight up in her sleep. It took her a few moments to gather her bearings again and realize it had all been a dream. The little girl wished her reality _now_ would all be a dream, however. She wanted to be with her friends and her mother again…the only family she'd even known.

Mackenzie pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She tried as hard as she could to keep the tears welling up in her eyes from falling, but it soon became too much for her. She buried her face in her legs, trying to suppress her sobs.

After several long moments, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Thinking her dream had become real, she gasped and scooted backward, but looked up into the eyes of the kind man who had saved her days before. He gave her a warm smile and picked the little girl up, placing her in his lap. Mackenzie sniffed and bit her lower lip, trying to keep it from quivering. "Hey…it's okay," the man said comfortingly, wiping her face of tears. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Mackenzie only nodded in response, sniffing again and wiping her nose with her sleeve.

He gave her another smile and nodded, pulling what looked like an old handkerchief out of his pocket. He opened his canteen, poured a tiny amount of water over the cloth, and wrung it out, using it to clean Mackenzie's face of dirt and tears. "There, now smile for me. Show me that big smile of yours I know is hiding in there."

She gave the man a meek smile. "Th-thank you."

He looked at her for several long moments before asking, "I've never told you my name, have I?" Mackenzie shook her head rapidly in response, shaking her bangs into her face. He chuckled softly. "My name is Alex."

She smiled again and tilted her head to one side. "Alex…" It didn't take very long for Mackenzie to settle down again. She felt comforted that someone cared about her, even in here under Skynet control. She began to tell him all about her two friends, Sierra Hayes and Tyler Dekker, and about her mother. After a few moments, she pointed to his left hand, to his ring finger. "What's that?"

Alex looked down at his hand and took the ring off his finger. He smiled fondly at it, a sad look flickering across his eyes. "It was my wedding band. My wife died in 2011, when Skynet dropped the first wave of nuclear missiles. We'd only been married two and a half years." He put the ring back on his finger, and gave Mackenzie another smile, although she could see the tears in his eyes that he was hiding. "I'll tell you about her another time, I promise."

Mackenzie nodded and tried to stifle her yawn. The next thing she remembered was falling asleep in the protective arms of her newfound friend.

* * * * *

2009

Sarah, Derek, and I were sitting in the Ram a block and a half away from Alex's suburban home, waiting for him to leave. We'd been there ever since 7:30 and it was now a quarter to ten. Alex always left his house earlier than this, and I was starting to get worried.

"If you squirm any more, you'll be kicked out onto the curb," Sarah said abruptly. She and Derek were sitting in the front seat.

I hadn't even noticed I'd been moving around at all. Pressing my lips together, I sat on my hands. "Sorry, I'm just getting a little restless."

"We all are. Just sit tight, I think he's about to leave," Derek interjected. Thankfully, he was right. Alex's garage door opened and he pulled out in a silver, diesel Volkswagon Jetta. As soon as we couldn't see him anymore, Derek and Sarah quickly got out.

I gave Sarah a critical glance as she opened the toolbox in the passenger side of the bed of the pickup, took out her pistol, and cocked it. She obviously ignored my glance and started walking toward Alex's house. I exchanged a glance with Derek before we followed. "It's like her form of insurance," he muttered under his breath to me. "She doesn't feel safe without it."

Once we were inside, I immediately found Alex's computer. My brow furrowed as I tried to think of what his password would be. After a couple tries, I finally got in, giving myself a victorious little smile.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at me. "How'd you guess his password?"

I smiled and crawled under the desk to plug the flash drive John gave me into one of the USB ports on the back of Alex's PC. "Easy, it was the name of his cat."

She gave me an incredulous look. "He has a cat?"

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Derek round the corner from Alex's bedroom with a fluffy, orange and white cat atop his shoulder. "Apparently…" he muttered as the cat rubbed her chin on Derek's nose.

Sarah wasn't amused. "Let's get going. We don't want to be here very long." She then disappeared somewhere into Alex's house.

Derek walked over to me and deposited the cat in my lap. "Make sure it doesn't follow us around. Sarah and I are gonna check his basement out."

I nodded and scratched the cat behind the ears. When I finally remembered what John had told me about copying the entire hard disk onto the flash drive, I sat and stared at the screen, petting the cat. "This is gonna take forever, huh Kisa?" I asked the cat. She only looked up at me and meowed, then jumped to the back of Alex's high-backed desk chair. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only two minutes, I looked at the status on what the computer was doing. _Copying item 12 of 5,386._ Great… This _was_ going to take forever.

I sighed and looked around Alex's desk. It was somewhat cluttered, but it didn't look like there was anything interesting on top of the desk. All of the drawers were unlocked, so I looked through the top right drawer. There were various pens and pencils, and small notepads to jot notes onto. But in the back of the drawer was a small, leather-bound book. I opened it and was surprised I had found Alex's journal. I couldn't resist reading the passage I turned to.

_December 12, 2008_

_I think I just met an angel today. I'm in London at the biggest biochemist/physicist-related conference in the world, and I think I just met an angel. Her name is Bridget Weber, and she's a London local. She's a physicist too. I sat with her during a break between the speakers today. I enjoyed her company so much, and we could have talked for hours. She finds it fascinating that I grew up in a small, Midwestern US town where I helped Dad milk cows for a living. I personally find it fascinating that she grew up practically in a mansion. Her father was the CEO of a huge pharmaceutical company, so she was so much better off than my family._

_Still…I'm completely captivated by her. She's like a breath of fresh air. She's so beautiful. I just know she's the one. At least I hope she is. I hope I don't scare her off with my geeky sense of humor, haha. We're having dinner together tonight, so I'm currently getting ready for that. I'm so nervous!_

Sitting back in the chair, I closed the book and set it back in the drawer. I laughed slightly at what I'd just read. I remember future-Alex telling me about his wife and how enthralled he was when her first met her.

"Is it done yet?" I glanced up to see Derek standing right in front of the desk.

"Uhh, not quite yet. It did speed up through the middle, but now it's gotten slow again. Alex has got a lot of stuff on this thing."

Derek nodded and eyed Kisa suspiciously. "Did you find anything else in his desk?"

I shook my head as Kisa jumped down into my lap again, licking my hand. "Not really." I laughed when Derek kept his eyes on Kisa. "She's not gonna kill you, ya know," I said jokingly.

He smirked and shook his head. "Yeah, I know. I just don't want her jumping on my shoulders again."

_**Author's Note** Okay, I'm writing this note after just seeing the latest episode of T: SCC and anyone who hasn't seen it shouldn't read any further. XD So I'm giving you an absolute __**GINORMOUS SPOILER ALERT**__!!_

_OMFG!!! I can't believe they KILLED DEREK! (CRIES!) I guess this just means my story really is an AU now, and everything in the show that's happened, has happened up until last week's episode, where Charley Dixon got killed. In my timeline, Sarah and John never went to the lighthouse to see Charley. They met up with Derek and Cameron and all of this never happened, lol._

_I'm most definitely going to be continuing this story, but now it's going to be a tribute to Derek as well. The writers for the show couldn't have given him a more demeaning death, and I'm __**really**__ upset about it! I mean, seriously people! Sarah didn't even close his eyes! (cries more) John should have done it, but I can understand why he didn't. He was a lot closer to Derek than Sarah was, and he was in shock. The only meaningful thing they did about Derek's death was at the end of the episode, when you saw (what I presumed to be) his ashes being buried beside a "2009" headstone in the same cemetery Kyle was buried in. Continuing this story is the least I can do for Derek. He more than deserves it._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

James Ellison sighed slightly as he got out of his Lexus, locking it and walking toward the Zeira Corp. building he worked at. Traffic this morning had been an absolute nightmare and it always annoyed him to no end. He gave the receptionist just inside the giant revolving doors a smile as he flashed up his badge. It wasn't like he needed to show her identification. He was pretty much popular over the entire building.

After chatting with a few coworkers, Ellison bid them farewell and stepped into the elevator, hitting the button for the basement. He cringed inwardly when he spotted Catherine Weaver, along with a man who looked like he was in his twenties, in the hallway just outside the room he was headed toward.

"Ah, Mr. Ellison, just the person I was looking for," said Catherine, turning to the man next to her. "Alex, this is James Ellison, head of security here at Zeira Corporations. Mr. Ellison, Alex is my new protégé, so to speak."

Ellison exchanged a smile with Alex. "It was nice to meet you, but I should get going," James said, giving Alex another smile and a nod.

"I'll walk with you, Mr. Ellison." Catherine stepped over to him and looked back at Alex. "You can go up to my office, I'll only be a minute." As soon as she was positive Alex was out of hearing range, Catherine turned to James again. "I presume you're here to see John Henry again?"

Ellison nodded and started digging around in his pocket for the key to the room John Henry was kept in. "I am. I figured I ought to see him, since I haven't in a few days."

Catherine smiled awkwardly at Ellison and nodded, stopping abruptly in front of their destination. "Just so you know, I've allowed John Henry to have new activity."

James raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but wonder what it would be this time. Of course it had to be something bigger than just Legos, otherwise there would be no need for Catherine to say anything about it. After he had unlocked the door, Ellison turned around to say something to Catherine, but she had vanished.

He sighed slightly and entered the room, but stopped abruptly just inside the door as he saw what John Henry's new activity was. To the left side of John Henry's table sat a car chassis, and on the table in front of the cybernetic robot was an entire array of different kinds of car parts.

John Henry glanced up at Ellison while cleaning one of the parts with a rag. "Hello, Mr. Ellison. I'm glad you decided to visit me today," he said with a friendly grin. Even though John Henry was a robot, and he seemed like a child, it still creeped Ellison out how human he could appear.

"What have we here?" Ellison asked, exchanging a glance with John Henry before studying the table before him.

"A 2008 Lotus Elise SC. Did you know that this vehicle can accelerate from zero to sixty miles-per-hour in approximately 4.3 seconds?"

Ellison raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly. "That's very interesting, John Henry. But I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you building a car?" he asked, flashing the robot an incredulous look.

John Henry tilted his head to one side, as if the answer was obvious. "I wanted to challenge myself more. Putting Legos together and painting figurines has challenged me in the past, but I'm growing and learning more. I asked Ms. Weaver if building a car would be an appropriate next step, and she agreed."

Ellison nodded again and pressed his lips together. "Of course she did."

"Do you want to help me, Mr. Ellison?" John Henry asked looking up at the man and extending his arms, holding the part he was cleaning toward him. "I quite enjoy your company."

He nodded and took his suit jacket off, rolling his sleeves up. "I might as well."

* * *

Connor House

I winced slightly as I glanced into the bathroom mirror at my shoulder. It had healed to the point of only needing to have a gauze pad over it, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. I was currently standing in the bathroom in a tank top and shorts, trying to get the tape and gauze pad off my shoulder…unsuccessfully.

"Here, let me help with that." Turning around, I saw Derek walking toward me. He turned me around again, facing the mirror, and slowly began to peel the tape back on the bandage.

Furrowing my brow slightly at the pain, I glanced up into the mirror at Derek. When he met my gaze, I flashed him a grateful look. "Thanks."

He simply nodded in acknowledgement and dabbed a cotton pad over the wounds. "You probably need to leave it uncovered for a little while, to let it scab over."

I nodded and gasped slightly as Derek dabbed another cotton pad over my shoulder, only this time it stung like crazy.

Derek tried to hide his smirk. "Alcohol will help it." Muttering another thank you, I looked at my shoulder again. "Hey," he said, getting my attention. "You want to run with me?" Derek smiled, "Instead of just stalking me?"

I laughed. "Sure, just let me grab my jacket.

He nodded and returned the smile. "I'll be out front."

Bouncing down the stairs, I tried to remember where I'd last put my jacket. I found it on the living room couch, under Derek's army jacket. Grabbing it quickly, I pulled Derek's jacket along with it, knocking something out of one of the pockets. A small piece of paper flitted under the couch. When I retrieved what had fallen out of Derek's jacket pocket I saw it wasn't actually a piece of paper, but a photograph.

The picture was of a woman who didn't look too much younger than Derek. She had long, very dark curly brown hair, deep brown eyes to match, and a fair complexion. _Who is she?_ I didn't exactly take Derek to be a guy who kept photos of (what seemed to be) old girlfriends in his jacket.

"Mackenzie!" Derek called from the front door. "You coming or not?"

I stuffed the picture into my pocket and shoved my arms through the sleeves of my jacket. "Yeah!" I called back.

"What took you so long?" Derek asked once we were on our way.

"Uhh, I couldn't find my jacket right away, I forgot I put it on the couch," I fibbed. As much as I wanted to find out who the woman was in the photo I just found, I knew Derek had it in his jacket for a reason. And that reason was probably to keep everyone else in the house from seeing it. I couldn't help but wonder what the history behind the photo was, though. Who was that woman? And did Sarah or John know her, or about her? Time would only tell, I suppose.

Neither of us really said much of anything until we got closer to the park. Derek must have taken the long way around to it, because I was slightly out of breath. Slowing to a walk a couple blocks away from the park, Derek looked over at me. "About Alex," he began, "I guess you're right about not killing him. Right away at least."

I nodded and tucked a few stray hairs that escaped out of my ponytail behind my ear. "There's a 'but' coming, isn't there?"

Derek chuckled briefly before his expression turned stolid again. "But I'm still not ruling it out, you know that?" He stopped and leaned against a tree once we got to the edge of the park, looking me straight in the eyes. "I don't want to risk much. Skynet is out there, right now, just waiting to be born and become self-aware. A computer like that grows and learns every day. And pretty soon it's gonna realize that it's superior to it's maker; faster, smarter, stronger with the right body."

Biting my lip and frowning slightly, I tried not to make a big deal out of Alex's possible death. The whole reason I had jumped back to this time was to save Alex from death. I couldn't fail my mission. "I understand," I sighed.

"Good." Derek's eyes softened just slightly. "I know what he means to you, and I hope it doesn't go that far. You just need to be prepared for anything." I nodded and stuck my hands in my pockets. Derek looked over his shoulder to the hotdog cart he frequented. Jerking his head in its direction, he gave me a small smile and asked, "You want one?"

Nodding, I returned the smile. "Sure."

* * *

After we had finished our hotdogs off, Derek decided to go back to the house. He and Sarah were going to check out the Zeira Corp. building later on to see it's security and what it would take to get in there. I wanted to stay behind for a little bit. For being here, in 2009, for three weeks, I barely had any time to explore, or really enjoy the freedom of living without being hunted down.

A small smile flickered across my face as I thought about how much Tyler and Sierra would love it here. I could picture in my mind perfectly how Tyler would just flop down in the grass and stare up at the sky, with the sun warming his face. I missed my friends so much… I only hoped they hadn't been killed by now, or even captured by Skynet.

What finally jolted me out of my thoughts was something hitting my foot. Looking down, I saw a baseball roll under the bench I sat on. I picked it up, seeing a little boy with brown hair running toward me.

"Thanks!" he said after I returned the ball to him. He ran back to who I would presume to be his older brother, who gave a friendly smile and waved at me in thanks.

I waved back and just sat there, watching the two brothers play catch.

After several very long moments, someone sat next to me on the bench. I blinked in surprise when I saw it was John. I couldn't help but give him an inquisitive look. "Derek said you were still here," he said as he caught my glance.

I nodded wordlessly as a long, very awkward moment of silence ensued. Something was wrong, I could feel it. John seemed stiff, and almost angry in a sense. "So, uhm…did I do okay with the flash drive and stuff?" I asked trying to figure out what could be wrong.

He only nodded and pressed his lips into a thin line. It was driving me insane trying to come up with a reason why it would be so tense between us. The last time I checked, John and I were on pretty good terms.

"Who are you?" John asked abruptly.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I tried to keep my eyes from widening, but I could feel my heart start pounding. "What?" I looked straight into John's eyes, still trying to control my reaction. "You know who I am, John."

"Do I?" he asked, returning my gaze, but with a hardened, accusing edge to his eyes. "Honestly, do I really know who you are? Because Cameron said some pretty interesting things about you yesterday."

I clenched my jaw slightly and faltered holding eye contact with John. On the inside, I was somewhat secretly relieved. I had contemplated telling him numerous times, but it also meant I couldn't trust Cameron at all. She'd promised not to tell anyone, yet here was John questioning who I was.

"Cameron said that you're keeping who you are a secret mainly from Derek. She wouldn't tell me everything, so if you want to keep whatever you're keeping secret still, you'd better tell me. Right now."

I chewed on my lower lip slightly and looked away from John, watching the two brothers play catch again. Sighing, I looked down at my hands. "What _has_ Cameron told you?"

John shrugged his shoulders and kept shooting daggers at me. "She wouldn't say much, just that your real name isn't White. I didn't think it was, but she said it's important for me to know who you really are."

Rubbing my hands over my eyes and through my hair, I sighed. "She's right, White isn't my name."

"Then what is?" John asked impatiently, probably wishing I'd just get on with it.

I hesitated before answering. "Reese." Glancing up into John's eyes again, I added, "My real name is Mackenzie Reese."

John's expression changed from untrusting and accusing to one of disbelief. "That's not possible. How are you a Reese?"

I studied John's eyes for several very long moments. Taking a deep breath, I knew there was no turning back now. My secret was out, and it was just about to get a whole lot deeper with my next three words. "I'm Derek's daughter."

He narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head. "No, Derek doesn't have a daughter."

I shrugged and got up, pacing in front of John. "Just ask Cameron. She's known who I am ever since I got here just because she's a tin can."

John kept looking at me in disbelief, but now he was assuming the distrusting edge again. He folded his arms over his chest tightly and glared up at me. "How is that possible? How can you be his daughter?"

"Derek has never known about me. He's never known that he had a child, and it was all my mother's doing to protect him." I stopped in front of John and gave him a hardened look. "My mom left him as soon as she found out she was pregnant. She never told Derek why, she just ran. I didn't even know who my real father was until she died," I explained.

"Why keep it all a secret, then?" John asked.

I shook my head and finally tore my eyes away from John's, looking down at my feet and scuffing my shoes in the grass. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. My mom told me to find him and tell him who I was. I just wanted to get to know him a little first, I guess. I didn't want to just drop it on him, that would have been unfair."

John and I stayed like we were for who knows how long. He finally got up and started to walk away. "I'm going back to the house."

I stood there for a few seconds longer before turning around quickly. "John." He turned around to meet my gaze again. "You won't tell him, will you? You won't tell Derek?"

John looked at me long and hard. "No, I won't tell him who you are. He needs to hear it from you."

I wanted to heave the biggest sigh of relief ever, but I kept my expression composed. "Thank you, John."

He shook his head. "Don't thank me. Just remember, never keep secrets from me, and definitely never from Mom or Derek. If you weren't family, you'd probably have a bullet in your head," he finished, then resumed walking away.

I plopped down onto the park bench again, like a huge weight had been lifted. I kept watching the two brothers play baseball. They'd been there this entire time. After a few minutes, though, they must have finished because the younger one started gathering up their gear. As the older brother turned around, my eyes widened a bit. I couldn't help but blink in surprise. On the back of the baseball jersey he was wearing was the name 'Reese.'


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note** Wow _ I'm so sorry for the wait, guys! This chapter gave me so many fits, it's not even funny _; Luckily, however, Chapter 8 is already well underway, so hopefully I can upload it within the next couple days depending on how much time I get to work on it._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! Heehee, I love introducing new characters XD_

_Oh! I've completely forgotten this for the past few chapters that I've submitted, but you guys need to check out the soundtrack I've put together for __**Blood is Thicker than Coltan**__. Here's the link! __.com/playlist/15640829195__ Enjoy, and comments are appreciated!_

Chapter 7

Midnight in the alleys of North Hollywood is never a place you want to be caught. With gangs around every corner, it's one of the roughest parts of the city.

Blue lightning began to form around a dumpster in one particularly dark alley. Within a matter of minutes, the dumpster and the asphalt beneath it held a perfectly spherical shape. A young African-American woman was crouched in the exact center of the spherical depression, absolutely naked. She rose slowly, to her full height of 5'7" and turned her head in both directions, assessing her surroundings.

A crash sounded to her left, causing her to whip her head around. She saw two people, a man and a woman, stumbling down the alley and knocking over trash barrels. From their erratic patterns and clumsy movements, it was obvious both individuals were drunk out of their minds. The woman nearly doubled over in laughter as her companion fell head first into a metal trash barrel. As soon as both had fumbled around enough to remove the barrel from the man's head, they finally realized they weren't alone.

"Well, well… Whatta we have here?" the man said, his voice slurred. He swaggered up to the young woman who had just appeared and took another swig of his bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey.

The woman studied him for several minutes, tilting her head to one side, then the other. She was clearly unphazed by the man in front of her.

The man chuckled as he looked at her up and down, earning a smack on the arm from his female counterpart. He looked back up at the young woman and placed a hand on the brick wall behind her, leaning closer to her. "What's a pretty lil' flower like you doin' here, huh? What's your name?" His lips pulled back in an ugly smile and he brought his other hand up, intending to grab at the woman's chest. Instead, he got her hand firmly placed on his face as she pushed him across the alley effortlessly, killing him the instant his head made contact with the opposite wall.

The woman he was with screamed and ran up to him. She glared at the other woman. "Who do you think you are?!"

She gave the woman knelt by the man she just killed an inquisitive look and stated. "Give me your clothes."

The other woman blinked wide eyes and shook her head rapidly, getting up and backing away from her companion. "Oh, no! Hell no, you are _not_ takin' my clothes." After a few minutes, her eyes lit up as an idea popped into her head. She then launched herself at the woman, but was only shoved back down to the ground. The woman she tried to attack hadn't moved a single inch.

The African-American woman looked down at her assailant and extended her right hand, pointing at the woman's forehead. Her index finger began to turn silver, leaving the other woman speechless, and extended itself quickly through her victim's head.

After removing her victim's clothes, the mysterious woman disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Connor House

My dreams have always been cryptic. They've always been so confusing and surreal. I can always tell when I'm dreaming, though, because good things keep happening to me. And good things usually never happen to me without consequences.

This particular dream wasn't terribly different than any of the others I've had. It was happy…too happy, sadly. I was with Tyler and Sierra again, and we'd won the war against the machines. Everyone around us was celebrating; dancing, singing, yelling joyously at the top of their voices. They weren't afraid to go outside anymore… They no longer had to fear being hunted.

I opened my eyes to darkness. As my eyes became adjusted to the low light I could see the outline of the ceiling fan in the living room. I had been sleeping on the couch since I'd gotten here. The only reason I had a bedroom right after I got here was because I'd been injured.

Sighing, I sat up and instantly bristled at who I saw in the shadows of the doorway to the kitchen. No wonder I'd gotten restless in my dream shortly before waking up. Cameron had been watching me sleep for who knows how long. I glared at her slightly. "Why must you do that? I hate it when people stare at me in my sleep."

Cameron blinked, her expression remaining indifferent, and sat in the recliner across from the couch I laid on. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. You share that characteristic with John."

"Yeah, it comes with being related to him," I shot at the robot sarcastically, knowing full well that a machine like her wouldn't be aware of the reason behind my sarcasm.

She continued to simply stare at me, blinking every twenty seconds as silence fell. (Believe me, I counted the seconds with nothing better to do.)

After several more very uncomfortable moments later, I was getting annoyed with the silence. I looked her straight in the eyes. "How many times have you lied?" Cameron tilted her head to one side as if not understanding the question, even though I know she did. "Don't give me that look. How many times have you lied to me, or to John or anyone else?"

She glanced out the living room window behind me and got up, walking toward it. "I've only lied to protect them, to protect John." Cameron looked over at me. "Humans are fragile. They need protecting."

I shook my head. "Humans may be inferior to machines, but you lack what actually gives life meaning; feeling emotions."

Cameron broke eye contact with me and looked out the window again. "John gets upset when I lie."

I studied Cameron's face for a few minutes. It wasn't composed into her usually blank expression; it almost seemed as if there was a hint of sadness to her face. For a minute I almost felt sympathetic. But in my subconscious, there was a niggling feeling that brought me back to rationality again. What may look like an emotion, such as sadness, was probably only a learned reaction or an action her mechanical brain used as it tried to comprehend the emotions other people felt. "He doesn't trust you anymore, does he?"

Cameron didn't answer. She just kept staring out the window only her expression got a little sadder. Her eyebrows wrinkled and I could see she was struggling to understand.

Sighing, I laid back down and buried my head in my pillow, trying to go back to sleep. Trying to get Cameron to understand lying was bad would be like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. I doubted I would actually be able to get back to sleep, but I did actually and I was back in my dreamland.

* * * * *

December 28, 2023

Little Mackenzie shivered as she carried a bag of who knows what to the disposal machines. The six-year-old had now been in the Skynet work camp for almost six months. She glanced up at the man in front of her, also carrying bags just as heavy as hers. He had been the one to ensure her survival. Alex was her only friend here.

She looked up at the gray sky above them. Snowflakes were just starting to form and were landing on her nose and cheeks. Mackenzie may have only been six-years-old, but she felt at least fifteen years older. The horrors she had seen had matured her far beyond her years, far too soon. She'd seen more dead bodies over the last six months than live ones.

A sudden, hard push from behind sent Mackenzie sprawling. She hadn't realized that she'd stopped in the center of the rubble and bone-ridden path. When she looked up, she saw a metal monster looming over her.

Mackenzie scrambled to her feet and gathered the bags she carried again, skittering away from the triple-eight who had jolted her out of her thoughts. She started walking next to Alex and they exchanged a glance. Little did Mackenzie know that Alex had something up his sleeve for later.

She sighed slightly as they passed the huge furnaces that made up the disposal machines. How could life ever come to this? Was man really so dependant on machines and technology that they could have taken over so easily? Apparently the answer was yes…sadly. Mackenzie couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like for her if machines hadn't decimated man's population…

* * *

Kyle Reese sighed slightly as he looked through the scope on his specialized energy weapon. He was on lookout, along with one other soldier. What they were looking for, though, would remain to be seen. All they had been told by John Connor was that they were supposed to be looking out for Skynet activity, but specifically for refugees escaping from Skynet. He'd said it was important and anyone they found had to be rescued, no matter what.

"Who do you think we're supposed to be saving?" asked Miranda Scott, the soldier just over Kyle's right shoulder.

He glanced back at her and gave her an inquisitive look. "How do you know we're supposed to be saving someone in particular?"

She shrugged and slung her sniper rifle over her shoulder. "It just kinda makes sense, you know? Why'd he have us out here and tell us specifically what we're looking for?"

Kyle nodded once and looked down the slope and out across the somewhat open plain in front of them. It did make sense. There must be someone out there they were supposed to save…someone specific. "I don't know, but that person better show up soon. I hate being out here for very long. The tin cans could spot us miles away with infrared."

Miranda pressed her lips into a thin line and gave Kyle a reproachful look. "Come on, Kyle, if it was you out there, wouldn't you appreciate being saved from those terror machines?"

He sighed again and kept looking through the scope on his gun. "Yeah, I guess." It was killing him not knowing who John was so intent on saving. Whoever it was, though, should be incredibly important.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note** All right, well, here's Chapter 8! I hope you all enjoy ^_^_

_I'm really proud of this chapter. Previously, I've been having trouble with intense scenes and actually making them…well, intense. So I hope this is much improved over previous tries, and I hope it's introduced a nice twist to the story._

_Also, all the way back in the first chapter of my story, I noted that Derek had hazel eyes, but the more I look at my collection (yes, a collection, I'm not obsessed! XP) of pictures of Brian Austin Green, I realized that he has green eyes actually. So that's why in this chapter Mackenzie notes that Derek has green eyes._

Chapter 8

I sighed as I gazed up at the clouds. I was sitting on the front porch of the house, all alone, just waiting for John, Cameron, and Sarah to return. For some reason, I'd caught myself getting lost looking up at the sky often. Too often. I did that when I had something on my mind, though.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I heaved a sigh again. Lately, I'd found myself thinking more and more about the life I'd left behind in 2034…about the friends I had left to fight the machines. Sure, there were people fighting for the same cause right next to them, but those people wouldn't watch Tyler or Sierra's backs nearly as much as I would. I cared so deeply for both my friends, who were more like siblings at this point. We had been through so many battles, so many hard times…so many good times even amongst the chaos.

_Then why did you leave them behind?_ asked the annoying, niggling little voice in the back of my mind. Whenever my conscience decided to pipe up like that, I felt even more guilty than before. I didn't dare even think the words that were threatening to surface in my conscience. _I should have stayed…_

Shaking my head rapidly as if to erase the thought from existence, I covered my face with my hands and rubbed my eyes. I couldn't think like that. Both Tyler and Sierra knew how to take care of themselves. _They'll watch each other's backs_, I told myself.

_Why do you still feel like you betrayed them, then?_ asked that annoying voice again.

"I didn't betray them…" I whispered to myself. It was around that time that I finally realized someone was out on the porch with me, standing just over my left shoulder. I jumped slightly, only alarmed until I saw it was Derek, holding two ice cream sandwiches.

He sat next to me and handed one of the sandwiches to me. Flashing me a brief grin and taking a bite of his ice cream sandwich, he asked, "What's up with you? It took you three minutes to realize I was there. If you sat there any longer, I would have eaten yours."

I laughed slightly and unwrapped the cold treat half-way, taking a bite out of it. "Nothing, I've just been thinking a lot."

Derek nodded and fell silent for a few moments. "About what?" he asked, not wanting to pry it seemed.

I glanced over at him, meeting his gaze, and chewed on my lip for a minute. "About the future. About my friends."

After a few thoughtful moments, Derek took another bite of his ice cream sandwich. "That guilt you're probably feeling is natural. But you need to forget it," he said bluntly, looking straight into my eyes for several long moments. "You left that life behind for a reason, and I'd bet your friends understand. Just because you're not fighting Skynet doesn't mean you're still not fighting a war."

Nodding, I chewed on my lip a bit more and looked down at my feet. Derek was right, as he most often was. I was helping in a whole different kind of war. There may not be bullets flying past my head with millimeters to spare, but it was definitely a war in its own right. I was helping to stop that horrible future from ever existing.

I opened my mouth to thank Derek for his words, but I was cut off. The sound of a vehicle coming down the street made us both look up to see John, Cameron, and Sarah returning in the Jeep. "How'd it go?" I asked Sarah as she made her way toward us. The trio had been watching Alex yet again, trying to figure out his daily routine.

"Slow," she commented. "But we need to do something about Alex."

Derek raised an eyebrow and folded his ice cream sandwich wrapper up to stick in his pocket. "Why?"

John walked up and stood next to his mother, his arms folded over his chest tightly. "He's spending way too much time at Zeira Corp. with Catherine, and we don't know nearly enough about her."

I frowned slightly. "Cameron couldn't find anything about her?"

John shook his head. "And she can't really. Not unless she can somehow hack the Zeira Corp. servers remotely. She'd have to be within a certain distance to do that, though. Either that or we need to somehow get into their network."

I glanced to Derek to see what his reaction would be. He frowned and his green eyes flicked between Sarah, John, and Cameron. "Then we should probably do that."

John nodded. "I'll need some things from inside then," he said as he started to walk toward the house.

"I can go get it, so we can just get going," I offered. "It's in your room?"

He blinked and nodded. "Uhh, yeah. The black bag next to my desk should have the stuff I need in it."

I nodded and bounced up the stairs, into the house. I found what John was talking about fairly easy, it was just where he said it was. As I started to walk out of John's room, though, something made me stop suddenly. Downstairs I could hear a door open and close and heavy footsteps walk around. Something felt wrong… From the sounds I heard, the front door hadn't been opened; the back door had. And no one was at the back door, nor would any of them walk _around_ the house to get in.

I dropped the bag in my hands just inside the door and stepped into the hallway outside John's room. "Derek?" I called, testing to see if whoever was downstairs would come up. "John?" Walking to the top of the stairs, I froze again and listened, holding my breath. Thirty seconds passed, a minute…thirty more and nothing. _I can't be imagining things…_

Shaking my head, I turned around and walked back into John's room to retrieve the bag. I was met, however, with a dark figure standing over John's desk. My eyes widened. I knew that silhouette. "Sierra?" She turned around, revealing that it was in fact Sierra, and looked at me strangely. She tilted her head to one side. _She never does that._ "Sierra? I-it's me, Mackenzie."

Sierra simply blinked at me. "Yes. Mackenzie." Before I could blink, she reached inside her jacket and pulled a pistol out. I hardly had time to react.

* * *

Derek sighed slightly as he, John, Sarah, and Cameron waited for Mackenzie to return. She'd already been in the house five minutes, which would seem like more than enough time to retrieve the bag John had instructed her to get. The more time that went on, the more uneasy Derek started to feel.

He shifted uncomfortably and flicked his gaze at the front door, waiting for Mackenzie to walk through at any moment.

Sarah glanced to John. "The bag was right where you said it was, wasn't it?"

John nodded and frowned slightly. "Yeah, I don't know what could be taking so lo-"

A sudden, unmistakable sound cut John off. Cameron shoved her way past Derek up the stairs and murmured. "Mackenzie is in danger."

* * *

"Derek!" I cried as loud as I could. I had a feeling I wasn't very loud. My voice was tight with fear. I could hardly gasp anyone's name out as I feverishly tried to crawl away from the metal monster. My right arm was tucked close to my body as I tried to keep that shoulder still. Blood seeped through my jacket. I could feel the wetness spread as I tried to move away faster.

I scrambled on my knees and one hand out into the hallway and made the mistake of looking back. I had managed to inch back to the top of the stairs, still watching Sierra.

She calmly walked toward me and took aim, this time at my forehead.

Seconds later, I was deafened by a shotgun being fired right behind my head. The blast knocked Sierra back two inches, causing her to drop the gun. I looked back to see Cameron holding the shotgun. She kept emptying round after round at the metal she'd soon face off with.

Someone grabbed me from behind and I tried to scramble away from the arms enclosing around me. My mouth was covered before I could shriek. I heard comforting words in my ear, though. I relaxed. It was Derek. Moments later, Derek and I were speeding away from the house in the Ram. John and Sarah were already gone, having taken the Jeep.

Derek was staring out at the road with his steely gaze. "Mackenzie, who was that? You knew her, didn't you?"

I didn't answer. I was trying to stay calm, even though I couldn't stop shaking. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to bear with the agonizing pain in my right shoulder.

"Mackenzie?" I heard Derek ask again. I opened my eyes enough to acknowledge him. He started switching his gaze between the road and me. "Mackenzie," he said more firmly.

Shaking my head, I tried to keep the tears welling up in my eyes from falling. _This can't be happening…_

* * * * *

**2023**

"Mackenzie," said a voice piercing through the six-year-old's subconscious. "Mackenzie, wake up."

She opened her eyes blearily to see Alex hovering above her. Rubbing her eyes, Mackenzie sat up and yawned. She gave Alex an odd look. "What is it? Can't I sleep?"

Alex chuckled just slightly and shook his head, wrapping a blanket around Mackenzie's shoulders and standing her upright. "You can sleep later, Mackenzie, trust me. Right now you need to do exactly as I say, understood?" he asked, looking straight into the sleepy eyes staring back at him. "Understood?"

Mackenzie nodded an affirmative and tried to suppress another yawn. "What's happening, Alex?" she asked as she watched the man put several things into a cloth and wrapped them up, tucking the small pack of items into Mackenzie's belt.

"You're getting out of here. You're escaping, so listen well." Alex took a deep breath before continuing. "I've managed to keep a hole in the wall of this room hidden from Skynet's attention. It's only big enough for you to get through. When you get out, run. Run as fast as you can away from this place," he explained.

Mackenzie shook her head in confusion. "B-but you're coming with me, aren't you? Aren't you, Alex?" She looked up at the man and tugged on his sleeve pleadingly. Tears threatened to fall onto her cheeks.

Alex knelt down so he was at eye-level with Mackenzie. He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her at arm's length. "I can't come with you, Mackenzie. Not now. I promise you we'll see each other again. Do this for me, Mackenzie, all right?"

She nodded and bit her lip, trying to keep her lip from trembling. After a few moments, she threw herself at Alex and hugged him tightly, not wanting to lose her friend.

He wrapped his arms around her as well and pulled away a minute later. "Quickly, now. The patrol will be around again in a few minutes." Alex took Mackenzie's hand and led her to the far left corner of the room, pulling back a wooden crate to reveal a small hole in the wall and a depression underneath, where it had been dug out enough for a small person to slide under the wall.

Mackenzie stepped into the depression and looked back at Alex for reassurance. "I'm scared."

Alex nodded and placed something in Mackenzie's hand. "I know. Be strong, Mackenzie. Now go, run!" Mackenzie nodded obediently and scrambled out under the wall. Alex peered under the wall and watched Mackenzie's feet until they disappeared. He took a deep breath and prayed she wouldn't be captured by Skynet a second time.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note** I would really like to apologize to everyone who has been awaiting this chapter of __Blood is Thicker than Coltan__ and I thank you all for your patience! My life has been so hectic lately _ My cousin just got married on the 5__th__, I have my birthday coming up this next Friday (June 12__th__, yay!), my brother's birthday (the 16__th__, lol), my mom's birthday (the 18__th__ _), my parents wedding anniversary (the 21__st__), and during all this I have to plan my graduation…which is thankfully NOT in June! XD_

_So…yeah, I would really like to apologize for the increasing amount of time between chapters. My life is just a bit of a rat race during June __

_But, without further adieu, here is Chapter 9!_

Chapter 9

I grit my teeth and grimaced in pain as John helped remove my jacket. Derek and I had met up with Sarah and John in an old abandoned gas station on the outskirts of the suburbs we lived in. Cameron hadn't returned just yet, and I could tell John was worried about her. I wouldn't have thought she'd really mean too much to him, but I suppose he'd grown attached to her since she'd saved his life on several occasions.

Clenching my jaw again, I wished we had some sort of painkiller. I knew your own body was supposed to release endorphins when you're in pain, but I didn't see how that'd ever help.

John sat me on the tailgate of the pickup and went to retrieve the first-aid kit from the Jeep. I glanced up to see Sarah and Derek conversing in low enough voices that I couldn't catch what they were saying. I couldn't read their lips either, since Derek was barely moving his mouth, and Sarah had her back to me. Derek's expression was stoic and unreadable. I wished I could see Sarah's expression. On second thought, however, did I really want to deal with the daggers she'd be shooting at me?

I sighed slightly and shook my head, clenching my jaw yet again as I tried to get my shirt off so John could clean and bandage my shoulder. I'd been shot by energy bolts from Terminator weapons before, but thankfully I hadn't been shot by regular projectile weapons. Well…not until now, that is.

When John returned with the small plastic tote filled with medical supplies, he glanced over his shoulder at his uncle and mother briefly before turning back to me. "They think you lured it here," he murmured as he started to wipe away some blood around the wound.

I looked straight up into John's eyes. "I'd never do that, John. You know that."

He shrugged. "_I_ know that, but they don't. And right now, it really doesn't matter what I know or think. That metal was _at_ our house, and they both have a pretty good idea of how it got there. Everything's pointing to you," he added.

Nodding, I looked briefly up at Derek and Sarah again. I hoped I could convince them that I had absolutely no knowledge of that Terminator following me. Especially in that form… I felt a lump beginning to form in my throat as I thought of Sierra. It was a shock at first to see her, and then realize she was metal, but now it was really sinking in. All my fears had been confirmed. My friend was dead…

I looked up to see Derek in front of me now instead of John, who was now standing next to Sarah. "How you holding up?" he asked, walking over to help me finish bandaging my shoulder.

"I've been better," I muttered, sitting up a little straighter. Derek handed a gauze pad to me to put over the entrance wound, while he had another to put over the exit wound. I was thankful the bullet wasn't still in my shoulder; I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

After several long, and very silent, moments later, Derek finished bandaging my shoulder and walked around to face me. "I know that was a tin can back there, but you knew who it was. You recognized the face and you were afraid of it," he said in a somewhat accusing tone.

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and I fought back tears. "I was-"

A loud bang came on the door, thankfully interrupting me. Derek, Sarah, and John each reached for their guns, preparing to open fire at the potential threat behind the door. We all relaxed considerably when the door opened and a bloodied Cameron revealed herself. Her hair was messy and somewhat bloody, and the skin on her cheeks, chin, and some on her lower arms was scraped away down to the metal underneath.

Cameron walked toward our small group and stood next to John. "We have a problem," she deadpanned.

"We gathered that," Sarah said, her brow still furrowed. "How big of one?"

"Big." Cameron looked around at all of us. "We need to relocate. That was a T-1001 model; liquid metal. It can assume any shape."

John nodded. "Like the one that came after me in '97."

Cameron glanced at him, then back at Sarah. "Yes, only better. That was a T-1000 model. The 1001 is far superior at infiltration. It's smarter. Faster," she explained.

"And now it knows who we are and what we look like…" I sighed.

The metal shook her head. "Not all of us. It never saw Sarah or John. It knows who you, Derek, and I are, but it has no knowledge that we are with its target."

"Well, that's slightly comforting," Derek muttered, taking a deep breath. "It still knows where we live, though."

"Which is why we need to relocate away from Los Angeles," Cameron replied.

"How far away from LA exactly?" Derek asked, slipping his gun back in the waistband of his pants against his back.

"Far enough," Cameron said cryptically before she looked around at each of us again and left.

* * * * *

2023

It couldn't have been more frustrating for Kyle Reese to be out keeping watch for refugees. He was getting far more than anxious with every second that passed. He huffed a sigh of irritation and shifted his weight off the foot he had been crouching on for hours. Not only did his legs ache from keeping so low to the ground, but he was starting to get a headache as well.

"You got ants in your pants, Reese?" asked Miranda, the soldier who had been sent out with him, with a smile. "I've never seen you so jumpy."

Kyle only gave her a blank look and shook his head. "I've never felt so vulnerable for so long either. Even when I was in the stupid work camps, I felt safer than this."

Miranda laughed and rolled her eyes slightly. "Just look at it this way, Reese. We can see everything for miles, and even if we can't see 'em coming, we can sure as hell hear 'em."

He pressed his lips into a thin line and shifted his weight again. Miranda had a point. If you couldn't see the machines coming, you could definitely hear them. Except for the Terminators, of course. They could be even quieter than humans, with their ability to freeze perfectly still and silent, and not needing to breathe. The only thing that gave them away was the small, muffled sounds of the motors in their joints winding.

Kyle clenched his jaw and glared out at the plains in resentment. He couldn't fathom why anyone would actually _want_ to build warmongering machines. Human lives would always be lost in wars; there wasn't anything anyone could do about that fact. Yet the human race had still been naïve enough to think that they could find a way to change it. Kyle understood the value in human life almost more than anyone, but would losing all the freedom every human had before Skynet became self-aware ever justify creating the metal abominations? Which brought Kyle to another thought; machines may be stronger physically and advanced mentally, but nothing could ever replace human instinct and morality.

A small sound brought both soldiers to attention. Kyle exchanged a quick glance with Miranda and they both nodded, not needing to speak to understand what the other would do. He peered out over the plains, keeping himself as low to the ground as possible. Miranda looked down the other side of the hill.

After a few moments, nothing happened. Nothing even hinted that any sound had been made. There weren't any rocks bouncing down the hill like there should be if someone was making their way up it. There wasn't even the slightest hint of movement at all. Just as Kyle was beginning to think it had all been in his imagination, he heard running footsteps. "Where are they coming from?!" he hissed at Miranda.

"How should I know?! It sounds like it's coming toward you!" she hissed back, not taking her eyes away from the scope of her sniper rifle to glare at him.

Kyle opened his mouth to reply, but instead gasped in surprise as the footsteps stopped and something ran into his legs, wrapping itself around them. He looked down to see a small child, presumably a little girl, with dark brown hair and her arms wrapped tightly around his knees.

He exchanged an exasperated glance with Miranda, who had covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle a chuckle. _This_ is who they were supposed to save?

* * * * *

2009

Several hours later, after Cameron had returned, we moved from the abandoned building to a hotel in Santa Ana. Thanks to the T-1001 now on our tails, we moved from the LA area to between Santa Ana and Irvine. Luckily it wasn't too far from Alex's house, so we could keep a closer eye on him as well.

Currently, I found myself staring up at the ceiling of our small, stuffy hotel room. It was probably past one AM. I hadn't been able to even remotely _feel_ sleepy. My mind was still buzzing from today's events.

Soon enough, I became too restless. It started to feel claustrophobic in the room. I sat up and glanced around the dark room. Thankfully everyone (save for our metal watchdog) was asleep, or at least I hoped they were. Getting out of my bed slowly, I cringed as the springs creaked in the mattress. _Well, if they weren't awake before, they are now_, I said to myself, cursing the cheap sofa bed. I grabbed my shoes and the new jacket I got to replace my blood-soaked one, and headed outside to get a little fresh air. I sat on the edge of the sidewalk right outside the room to tie my shoes before walking out to the Ram to sit on the tailgate. When I got there, however, I blinked in surprise when I saw Derek already there.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him as I hopped up on the tailgate, much to my body's complaint.

Derek glanced at me very briefly before returning his gaze to the cars speeding by on the highway beside the hotel. "Waiting for you. I knew you'd be out here. You never sleep the whole night through when you have something on your mind."

I nodded silently, wishing I wasn't so easy to read or so loud at night. Now that I thought of it, the only night that I _had_ slept a full ten hours or more was after I told John who I really was. "You've gotta have a reason for being out here too, though," I pointed out.

Derek flashed a small half-smile and shrugged his shoulders. "After a day like today, I can't really sleep either," he admitted. He looked over at me with his piercing gaze. "And you never got to answer my question earlier."

A confused expression flashed across my face until I realized what the question had been. I nodded and looked down at my feet. "The T-1001 was in the form of one of my closest friends," I murmured.

Derek sighed and shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "Damn…" he muttered under his breath. "You know what happened, then? You know that she's-"

"Gone," I finished, almost choking it out. Tears were blurring my vision so much that I knew if I even blinked, they would fall. "Her name was Sierra…she was practically my sister." I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the tears stream down my cheeks. The next thing I knew, I felt Derek's hand on my shoulder pulling me into a hug. Surprised at the gesture at first, I didn't know what to do. But as tears kept falling off my cheeks, I couldn't help but accept the comfort.

* *

Derek didn't know what to make of this. Normally, he would have just given someone in this situation a pat on the shoulder and a few comforting words. But he felt more compassion than he had in a long time. This was all so strange…so difficult to comprehend. Yet, he was only human, and little did he know he was this girl's father. She may not be the most trustworthy person in the world, and she nearly got himself and the Connors killed. Derek felt he had a deeper connection with her than anyone else for some reason. He hadn't felt like this since…Jesse had changed his life.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note** Mkay, as all of us writers do, we often forget facts chapter to chapter… I just so happened to forget that I already gave Alex a different car. So yeah, I find myself to be a complete genius right now… XD_

_Annnd we get to see Mackenzie's mother! If any of you have questions about how she can be Mackenzie's mother, just send me a message ^_^ I'll be glad to answer your questions and explain how exactly all of it happened, I just don't want to give it all away here. XP_

_And again, I really apologize to everyone for your wait on Chapter 10. I know this is no excuse, but my life really is hectic right now. O.O And I graduate from high school this Saturday, so writing my speech has cut into my fiction writing time as well.. . As soon as I'm through with that (and after I get back from my trip to California, W00T!) I am going to be a Terminator-writing fiend, I tell you!_

_But yeah, I hope you all enjoy Chapter 10!_

Chapter 10

Alex sighed as he sat in his Toyota MR2 Spyder. He was on his way home from another day at work. He hadn't seen Catherine for several days, since she had been working on her 'secret project,' and yet, the offer Zeira Corp was willing to make hadn't left the back of his mind. He'd have to be an idiot _not_ to accept it. Alex was just having difficulties with his moral decision.

Did he really want to be responsible for hundreds of thousands…of potentially millions of lives lost because of _his_ creation…_his_ virus? Frankly, what human being with an ounce of compassion, morality, and humility would want that on their shoulders?

Alex shook his head slightly and glanced at the radio. Music. Music always helped soothe his mind in times like these. He reached for the dial and rock music started blaring from the stereo. He could feel the bass through his seat and the steering wheel. Okay…it wasn't exactly the most soothing music in the world, but it helped to drown out the doomsday thoughts residing in Alex's brain.

Even that only helped for a few moments. Soon the guitar riffs and drum solos turned into an unintelligible drone as those doomsday thoughts prevailed. Unbelievably, Alex was actually considering the financial side of the deal Zeira Corp was making to him. The job he had now wasn't the highest paying job in the world, and he couldn't even do what he wanted for probably ten more years to really be considered an 'experienced scientist.'

The people weren't all that great there either. Sure, he had a few friendly coworkers, but none of them would invite him to a family barbeque or even engage in small talk as they were waiting for results to come in. At Zeira Corp, there was already the potential to become close friends with one of his coworkers. So not only would it be a much better and more productive work environment for him, but he could do what he want, he could develop anything he wanted _and_ there would be a pretty paycheck sitting in his mailbox for doing exactly what he wanted.

A bigger paycheck was always so enticing, especially in today's world. Alex could help his parents go to Japan like they'd always dreamed of, or he could help his sister and her family move closer to LA. What could he possibly use a bigger paycheck for himself?

Alex shook his head again and heaved another heavy sigh. Looking in his rearview mirror, he noticed a black Dodge Ram following him. That pickup had been following him since he left work. For that matter, it'd been following him for the past two weeks. Alex chewed on his lip nervously. It wasn't too much further home, maybe the pickup wouldn't follow him when he turned, then he could set his paranoia at ease.

After he flicked the turn signal, though, Alex knew that hope was in vain. Sure enough, the black pickup turned the corner along with him. Alex's palms began to sweat on the steering wheel and he could feel his pulse quicken slightly. This had to be a coincidence, right? _It has to be. It won't follow me if I make another turn_, Alex told himself as he turned the left turn signal on. He gulped. _Nope, not a coincidence._

"Stay calm…" he mumbled under his breath. "Lead them on, then try to get rid of them." It was a really good thing Alex knew his neighborhood. It lowered the chances of him getting lost.

He continued down the street he was on for several minutes, retaining a slow speed as to not let whoever was following him catch onto the fact that he knew they were following him. All of a sudden, though, Alex took a sharp right turn and gunned down the street, making another left turn as soon as he could. He turned around fully in his seat and sighed in relief when he didn't see the pickup behind him anymore.

That relief was short lived, however. Since he hadn't been looking where he was going, the car jolted to a stop and the airbags deployed like he'd hit a pole. Alex coughed at the dust that had collected in the airbag in the steering wheel and swatted at it to get it out of his face. When he looked up, he was horrified to see that he'd hit a girl. She looked like she was in her mid to late teens, and somehow there was not a single scratch on her. In fact, the nose of his poor MR2 was crumpled around her legs and she was rooted to where she stood.

Alex was glued to his seat in a mixture of confusion and fear as he watched the girl step out of the indent in his car and walk around to his door, opening it and deadpanned, "If you come with me, I'll let you live."

* * * * *

2023

"This is _not_ funny, Miranda…" said Kyle, glaring daggers at his partner's hunched, laughing shoulders. The little girl they had picked up was now clinging to Kyle's upper torso, nearly strangling him, and she wouldn't let go. He and Miranda figured the child was the only reason they were out looking for refugees, so they packed up their weapons, convinced the girl to let go of Kyle's legs long enough for him to pick her up, and started back toward the base.

Miranda snickered and looked back at him. "From here it's funny. You nearly look like you could be her daddy or something close to that," she teased, making Kyle's rosy complexion even redder.

Kyle grit his teeth and adjusted his hold on the girl to keep her from slipping. He wished she would walk on her own and just follow them, but there was always the risk of her getting separated and captured again. If John Connor had put both soldiers through this much, there was no way Kyle would let go of this little girl…whoever she was.

He frowned slightly, wondering why this girl was so important. Connor always had his reasons. His reasons didn't always make sense, but you can't change his mind once it's made up. One thing that made Connor so valuable to the Resistance was that he knew things. Things about people, or the machines, that he'd only know if he grew up knowing them. Connor had often told stories of running from a metal when he was a teenager and stories of how brave his mother, Sarah, was. He told his fellow soldiers of how Sarah prepared him for Judgment Day…for all the pain and heartache of fighting Skynet. So if John Connor said he knew something, you'd better believe him, even if what he told you had you carting six-year-old girls all over Skynet infested land.

Glancing up, Kyle saw that they were close to where the base was. He quickened his pace, eager to get the living pendant off his neck. Once inside the base, Kyle instantly spotted his brother. "Derek!" he called, causing Derek to lift his head.

Derek walked over to Kyle, trying to smother the smirk on his face. "Found a magnet, huh?" he chided.

Kyle glared slightly at his brother and tried to loosen the girl's grip on his neck…successfully this time. "Where's Connor?"

"Where else would he be? He's shut up in his quarters just like always when something's up, except this time he's allowing three people in," Derek explained. "You, Kate, and Jesse."

Raising an eyebrow, Kyle gave his brother a slightly confused look. "Why just those three? He usually only _barely_ lets Kate in, and that's when he's in a good mood."

Derek huffed sigh and shook his head. "Hey, I don't want to try and get inside Connor's brain. Kate said to tell you to hand the girl off to Jesse so she can take her to Connor," he said with a dissatisfied look on his face.

Kyle sighed as well and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. Do you know where she is at least?"

"Yeah, she's over by the barracks," Derek paused. "Who is this girl anyways?" he asked, giving her a once-over glance.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kyle said, looking over Derek's shoulder to see Jesse striding up.

"There you both are, I've been lookin' for you at least," she said in her thick Australian accent, slapping Derek's right shoulder.

Derek jerked his head in Kyle's direction. "Well, look for him now, because Connor has a job for you and him," he said before walking off.

Exchanging a glance with Kyle, Jesse watched Derek disappear. "What's ruffled his feathers, not being included in Connor's little circle?"

"Probably," Kyle agreed. "Derek told me you're supposed to take this little one to Connor," he added, attempting to break the girl's hold on him. "That is, if she'll let go."

Jesse rolled her eyes and smirked, placing her hands on the girl's hands behind Kyle's neck, prying her fingers apart while murmuring comforting words. "There we go. Now, let's get a look at you." After getting a good look at the girl's face, Jesse's heart stopped. She widened her eyes slightly in disbelief. _She can't be…_

* * * * *

2009

"Hey, you can't do this!" Alex protested as he was pulled out of his car. The girl who had threatened him had blindfolded him and tied his hands without even waiting to see if he'd comply with her. After she had blindfolded him, she ripped him out of the driver's seat and into another car…he thought, until he heard the familiar sound of the MR2's engine. _My poor car…_ he thought briefly before the girl warned him to be quiet otherwise she'd kill him. But now he didn't really see the point of keeping quiet. She couldn't be more than a 16-year-old girl, at best. What could she possibly do to him?

Almost as if she was reading his mind, the girl shoved him, face down, onto the ground, as if to show him just how strong she was. Alex sat back on his feet and groaned, raising his bound hands to his face, covering his now-throbbing nose. The next thing he knew, he was being picked up by his arms and plopped unceremoniously into a chair before being tied up. His blindfold was pulled off and he squinted at the light, blinking his eyes several times to help his vision adjust to the sudden brightness.

"Where am I? And who do you think you are for grabbing me like that?" Alex demanded to whoever was standing in front of him. A feminine figure stepped into the light, but it wasn't the same girl who had kidnapped him. This woman was older, with dark brown hair and sharp, green eyes.

"I'm Sarah Connor," she stated, nearly glaring at Alex. "And we have to talk about what you're doing with Zeira Corp."

Alex gulped slightly as the teenaged girl stepped into the light beside Sarah. "B-but I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm just doing business like any other person!"

"Wrong," Sarah interjected. "You are going to doom a portion of the population after Skynet, a computer defense system, becomes self-aware and destroys nearly every living organism on the planet."

Alex flashed both women an exasperated glance. "Okay, are you two on meth or something? The technology for that kind of machine doesn't even exist!"

"What makes you so sure?" said the teenager, her eyes flashing blue.

Alex paled a considerable amount and felt like the air had been knocked out of him.

* * *

Mackenzie's POV

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, flipping the light switch on and walking up to Sarah and Cameron. "The goal is to get him to cooperate with us, not put him in a coma out of sheer fear of her," I reprimanded, looking pointedly at Cameron.

"We weren't going to baby him," Sarah scolded. "That's not how we do things."

Sighing, I shook my head and stepped between Sarah and Alex. "Well, I'm the only one here who knows him at least a little better than anyone else."

Alex sunk back in his chair, hanging his head over the back of it. "This is all a dream. I'm being kidnapped by three crazy women, and this isn't real!" he said, trying to convince himself otherwise of his current predicament.

I laughed slightly and shook my head, untying him from the chair and the binds from his hands. "Sorry, Alex. You're not dreaming. We just want to help you."

He snapped his head up and eyed me suspiciously. "How do you know my name? You said you knew me, but how? I have _never_ seen you in my entire life."

"Not yet," I said with a smile. "Well, technically you weren't even supposed to meet me now, but I'll explain everything."

* * * * *

2023

A young Resistance soldier scrambled, nearly tripping over his faithful German shepherd, to get out of Jesse Flores' way. She had a look that could kill even the fiercest of Skynet's Terminators. Now clinging to her neck instead of Kyle Reese's was little Mackenzie, and John Connor had some explaining to do.

Clenching her jaw, Jesse rapped her fist on the door to Connor's quarters. "Connor!" she shouted. The door opened to reveal Kate, John's wife, and Jesse shoved her way past her, muttering a brief apology to her. "Do you think this is some kind of joke, Connor?" she accused the man sitting behind what used to be part of a T-600, now converted into a desk.

John only lifted his eyes away from the computer screen he'd been studying. "What do you mean?" he asked, the corners of his mouth pulled back in a small smile.

"Obviou-" she started a bit too loudly. Jesse lowered her voice into as menacing a growl as she could make it. "Obviously you do, otherwise I wouldn't be holding my…" she trailed off.

John glanced over Jesse's shoulder to Kate and flicked his eyes to Mackenzie. He wasn't really a man of words, so he was lucky his wife could decipher his glances and expressions.

Jesse handed Mackenzie to Kate somewhat reluctantly and turned back to John, placing both her hands on his desk and leaned closer, glaring at him. "What are you thinking, Connor? Did you honestly think I'd want to see my daughter again? You have no clue how hard this is."

John's expression remained impassive. "The only reason you're involved in getting Mackenzie back to her mother is because you have intimate details about her situation."

"You mean her adoptive mother? The one who let this happen to her? Mackenzie could have been killed, Connor, she was under Skynet control."

"You wanted her hidden. It only made sense to involve the one other person who knows who Mackenzie really is." John's eyes had turned steely. "Now, I suggest you get her back to her mother."

Jesse sighed and nodded. Before she walked out, however, she turned back. "Why did you involve Kyle, then?"

John shrugged his shoulders. "He is her uncle after all." He flashed a small smile and shook his head. "Don't worry, I didn't tell him." Jesse heaved a sigh of relief, retrieved Mackenzie from Kate, and walked back out of the Connors quarters.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's note** Okay, just as with the few previous chapters, I have to apologize relentlessly for not being able to churn out chapter after chapter. I am, unfortunately, in that point in my life where writing is extremely important to me…but not to everyone else, especially my college. I know that's no excuse, but that's why you're going to get several chapters at once right now! I'm sick and stuck in bed, so I decided to use my time constructively…that is, when I'm not sleeping the day away._

_Anyways! I'm sorry if you've all got the feeling that my last couple chapters have been…well, filler chapters. I've just tried to figure out exactly how the ending is going to work out. (Yes, I will give you all the warning…the end is nigh!) But I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm having fun toying with my beta's emotions :3 So I have to thank her immensely! You've been the best beta a friend could ever ask for! (hugz!)_

_--Carissa 3_

Chapter 11

My foot twitched as I stared at the cell phone laying on one of the hotel beds. I was waiting for a call from Alex that seemed like it'd never come. It had been three days since Cameron had ambushed poor Alex and I told him everything about Skynet. Now I was just waiting for him to call and hopefully tell me he'd help stop Skynet.

"Paranoid much?" Glancing up, I noticed John had walked in and flopped into one of the chairs next to the nearly non-existent table. A teasing little grin flickered across his face.

I forced a smile back, but it didn't ease my paranoia any. "He hasn't called yet."

John rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head. "Did you expect him to call instantaneously? Seriously, Mackenzie, don't press him. He's not the Alex you know, remember?"

Sighing, I nodded and tossed a pillow over the stupid cell phone. "I guess you're right. I just wish we'd hear _something_ from him. Because I don't want Derek to…"

"Kill him? Yeah, neither do I. He seems like a decent guy. The one thing I don't get is why he even created this virus." John got up from the chair he sat in and walked over to sit next to me. "He'll call."

"But what if we told him too soon and now he won't cooperate with us?" I asked exasperatedly.

John shook his head. "He'll call," he said, glancing over at me. "Why is he so important to you? I know he saved your life once, but why is he so important?"

"He's kinda like family, you know?" I glanced up at John and studied his eyes for several minutes. "I never really had a family, and he, my mom, and my friends were the only people I could trust. Other than your future self, at least, but I only found that when I was a teenager."

He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "You still _are_ a teenager. So am I, for that matter. But I know where you're coming from," he sighed. "I have trouble trusting people, so when I do trust someone I take their deaths harder."

I nodded. "Same here. I'm still having trouble dealing with Sierra's death, but who was it for you?" I asked him, hoping to learn something about him this time.

John shrugged and shook his head. His eyes grew a bit more acute and I could see the muscles in his face become strained. "Just…some girl. Not a big deal."

As much as I could see that it _was_ a big deal, I let it slide. He hadn't gotten over her death, whoever this girl was. Deciding to get his mind off the thoughts that were undoubtedly running rampant, I thought I'd talk about my loss. "Sierra was the closest thing to a sister I've ever known," I muttered, looking down at my untied shoelaces. When John didn't reply, I just kept talking. "She and Tyler were my best friends, and I've known them since before I could talk. When Skynet captured me, I was trying to find Tyler after the toy we'd been playing with got lost outside the bunker. That's when I met Alex."

"So he's kind of like a father figure to you?"

A melancholy smile flickered across my lips and I nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. More like an uncle or godfather, though, now that I've met my real father." John simply nodded, and I was nowhere near done explaining how much Alex and my friends meant to me. "After he helped me escape, I didn't see him for another couple years, but we kept in touch. He almost felt responsible for me after taking care of me for the six months I was in the work camp, and after Mom died. I learned how to be a soldier from everyone else I was around, but he ultimately taught me the importance of human life and told me to never lose hope or give up. And yet…" I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek hard when I felt my cheeks get hotter and tears well up in my eyes.

"Yet what?" John asked sounding interested, at least.  
"When I was fourteen, I stayed with Alex for the last few months of his life or so," I said after taking a deep breath. "Right before he took his life, he gave me a vial and said it was the antidote for the virus that had run rampant ever since my mother had died from it. When I asked how he got it, he said he created it. Naturally, I was upset with him for not telling me this for so long, so I left with the vial and swore I'd never speak to him again." I paused for several moments, closing my eyes and feeling the tears stream down my flushed cheeks. I couldn't decide if I was angry or sad at that moment, but it was nearly excruciating remembering everything again. I had suppressed it for so long… "I never got to apologize to him for being so immature. The next day, I went back to where Alex lived to apologize, and I found his body there… In the note he left, he apologized relentlessly for hurting me, and he said he hoped that somehow in the future I'd be able to correct the wrongs he'd done."

"So you took that to mean coming back in time," John stated, nodding slowly. Grabbing a quick glance at his face, he looked sobered by my story.

"Eventually, I did. It wasn't until a month before I decided to jump that I discovered he'd been part of the team who was improving the time-travel technology. He helped with the transportation of biological matter part of making the modules."

John blinked in confusion. "Wait, modules? You didn't jump by using some huge machine?"

I laughed slightly and nodded. "Yeah, the technology really changed since Derek jumped."

"Huh…" he said, mulling it over for a few moments while I reined my emotions back in. "I get why you're here now. You want to make amends for Alex's death."

Nodding slowly, I sighed deeply and played with the hem of my shirt. "Exactly."

"You're not responsible for it, though." John looked me straight in the eyes. "You did nothing wrong. You didn't cause him to take his own life."

I wished I could believe him, but I nodded to make him think I agreed. Deep down in my subconscious, though, I knew I probably was a big reason Alex killed himself. "Thanks, John. I think I needed to talk about it again. I don't think I've ever done that before."

John rubbed my back for a minute before getting up and grabbing the cell phone from under the pillow I had tossed over it, and the Jeep's keys from the kitchenette counter. "Come on, you need ice cream."

* * * * *

Alex's House

If there was ever a time where Alex wanted to pull his hair out, or scratch his eyes out more, he couldn't think of it. He'd been cooped up in his house for the past three days, trying to tell himself that everything Mackenzie had told him was not real. That's the only really hard part about trying to convince yourself otherwise of something you just have that gut feeling is actually real, huh? No matter how hard one tries, no matter how hard one pounds and engrains it into one's brain, said person's subconscious still overpowers and roots through the brainwashing he's put himself through.

Alex paced throughout his house, talking to no one but his cat, Kisa. "Logically, there was no physical possibility of a super-computer taking over the world and declaring war on the humans that created it. It sounds like a bad Japanese B movie." He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "And yet there's that annoying, niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says it's most certainly true…" he muttered under his breath.

Being so transfixed with his thoughts, Alex had lost the perception of the world around him. He jumped, startled at the buzzing and vibrating in his pocket. It took him several moments to realize his phone was ringing. "H-hello?" he answered, feeling like an absolute fool for being so scared of his own cell phone.

"Hello, Alex," replied the smooth, Irish accent over the other line. A voice he recognized immediately as Catherine Weaver, the exact woman Mackenzie had told him to be wary of. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"N-no, of course not." _There goes my stuttering habit again, dammit!_ "I've just been…thinking…quite a bit actually."

"Very good! I hope you're thinking of that offer, Alex. It's been nearly two weeks."

"Yeah, I know. I've just had a lot of conflict over it and…"

"You're lucky that wasn't actually the reason I'm calling you. Are you interested in seeing my secret project, by any chance?" Catherine asked in that icy tone of hers that implied that you would regret declining her offer.

Alex hesitated slightly before answering. "Sure…"

"Good. There should be a chauffer awaiting you as we speak. I'll see you soon."

Hardly fifteen minutes later, Alex was walking up to the Zeira Corp building. Catherine was waiting for him at the front doors, looking just as sharp and cold as she always had. Except her expression wasn't the normal void-of-emotions expression. She looked almost excited, but something was off about her expression. It seemed that all of what Mackenzie had told him was making him paranoid. Catherine was a perfectly normal human being…right?

Catherine gestured for Alex to follow him without a single word. The next few minutes that ensued were perhaps the most awkward minutes of Alex's life. Catherine led him to the door he couldn't go in when he toured Zeira Corp. Before unlocking and opening the door, however, she turned to him and stared him down. "Are you at all familiar with androids or cybernetic beings, Alex?" she asked.

That question caught Alex for a loop. "Uhh, yeah. I know the Japanese are working at developing near-human androids. Why?"

Catherine smiled and the door behind her opened to reveal a man who looked undoubtedly human, sitting at a table in the middle of a room full of servers. "Because I want to introduce you to my friend John Henry."

Alex blinked extremely wide eyes at John Henry and just stood there in awe. A wave of sudden realization almost took Alex's breath away. _This_ was what Mackenzie was talking about… It had to be! Now, it was only a matter of feigning interest until he could get out and call Mackenzie back.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's note** Don't spear me!!! I'm so very sorry for such a short chapter, but you guys will NOT be complaining after the next few chapters. This is just one of those set-up chapters before some filler! XD Okay, yeah seriously I'm sorry for how short it is. It was either make this one really short and not have very good inbetween stuff after what they were finally able to agree on what to do, or jump straight into the fire…which is probably what several of you would just prefer, but I have to squeeze a much-needed part into the next chapter. And this was the best way to do it. So don't murder me just yet!_

_And I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but in the future, I __will__ explain how Derek and Jesse could possibly have a child. It will be in a short-short story inbetween the first and second story arcs. Now that I think of it, I probably have mentioned this… Oh well! You just get to be reminded about it! XD_

_Enjoy!_

_--Carissa 3_

_P.S. Oh, you all probably will have noticed that I've changed my Pen name…for personal reasons. Instead of being Reese.9193, I am now Tulowitzki-girl91 XD Those of you who are baseball fans will catch why._

Chapter 12

"You're sure what you saw was really a tin head?" Derek asked Alex. He was standing over Alex, almost staring the poor guy down. I was sitting on one of the hotel beds with Alex, and Sarah and John were sitting across from us. Cameron, being the metal "watchdog," was standing at the window next to the door.

Alex glared up at Derek. "Of course I'm sure. How else can I not be sure if I saw a two inch diameter wire coming straight out of the back of this guy's head? He was hooked up to an entire room bigger than this full of servers, like he was some super computer."

"Did he seem dangerous?" Sarah asked before Derek could interrogate Alex any further.

Alex shook his head. "Not really, no. It was like he had the IQ of…Rainman, but the maturity of an eight-year-old." Derek and I exchanged extremely confused glances, but John and Sarah seemed to know what he was talking about. "I don't know if it'll help at all, but I got a picture of him on my phone," Alex said, pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket.

Sarah took the phone and after a couple minutes her expression changed. It was still unreadable, but that didn't mean it was a good sign. She handed the phone to John, and he ran his free hand through his hair. "It's Cromartie…or at least Cromartie's body."

"Cromartie?" I asked, obviously out of the loop.

"A triple-eight that was after John," Sarah explained briefly. "How did Catherine get his body?"

"How do you think? Ellison," John said through nearly clenched teeth. He gave me a brief glance that he'd explain everything to me later.

After grabbing the phone to see for himself, Derek cursed under his breath and began pacing. "We need to get in there and do something about this."

"We can't," Alex said shaking his head soberly.

Derek flashed Alex an incredulous look. "What do you mean we _can't_? This is a serious issue, we can't just sit around twiddling our thumbs!"

Alex clenched his jaw. I could see he and Derek weren't exactly going to get along very well. "I wasn't exactly finished. What I meant was that we can't see him right now. Not so soon after I've seen him. If Catherine really is what you suspect she is, don't you think it'll raise some kind of red flag?"

"We still need to take care of it. And sooner would be a hell of a lot better than later," Derek protested. "If whatever Catherine is messing with in this…thing is Skynet, then J-day is a whole lot closer that anyone wants."

After a shiver ran down my spine and an awkward silence followed, I cleared my throat. "Alex does have a point, though. If we want to be able to cripple Skynet, or even destroy it, we'll need to wait a few days. I don't like it any more than anyone else here, but do we really want to lose the opportunity? Derek, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but if we jump without thinking, this could be pulled right out from under our feet."

Derek grumbled under his breath for a minute before finally surrendering. "Fine. But we still have to move fast. Catherine might know that her little 'project' is compromised."

It had been at least ten days since Sierra had nearly pinpointed John Connor's whereabouts. If it hadn't been for that single missed shot, Mackenzie Reese would be dead, and so would everyone else associated with her. And that meant John Connor was included in that list.

After scouring Los Angeles thoroughly, Sierra started searching the surrounding areas. Finally, she caught them. And she didn't even have to look too far. A black Dodge Ram pickup had license plates that matched those she had seen days earlier was parked in Alex Payne's driveway. Sierra had found her target again. But now was not the time to strike. Everyone was not together. She had to be strategic. If she killed now, those involved would scatter and she would lose her lead on another important target…a target that actually had a chance of destroying Skynet. It had to be stopped.

Currently, Sierra was crouched outside of the Connor's hotel room, listening to every single word being spoken about their current predicament. In three days time, Sierra would strike… Not here, but at Zeira Corporations. She would be Skynet's savior. She would be the single machine to wipe out the Resistance before it even began.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ducking as a spray of energy bolts pummeled the metal behind my head, I cursed under my breath. I was cornered, and the slow, seemingly stupid, yet incredibly effective T-600 that had me pinned down could see my infrared sig. It would keep up its attack until a smaller Terminator could fish me out or until it simply melted me into submission…whichever came first.

I sat there, cramped into my little foxhole for fifteen minutes or longer, listening for any chance of the endless spray of fire to stop. My legs were absolutely burning, needing to be active with all the adrenaline pumping through my bloodstream. I knew if I even so much as stood up, my life would be over. Grimacing as a bead of sweat dropped into my eye, I wiped my brow on the sleeve of my army jacket. The T-600 might just succeed in melting me. Just as I was prepared to become one with the several tons of molten iron above my head, though, it stopped. It was completely and totally silent. I couldn't even hear distant sounds of the constant battle. Frowning, I made a small noise to make sure I wasn't suddenly deaf. Sure enough, I could still hear just fine. In fact…

"Mackenzie!" I heard a faint, familiar voice call. "Mackenzie, where are you? Mackenzie!"

As the voice drew nearer, I recognized it as Tyler's voice. I gasped and tried to wriggle out of my hole, but the T-600 had melted the hole I crawled through until it was almost shut closed. "Tyler!" I managed to stick my arm out and wave frantically. "Tyler, over here! I'm here!"

I heard his heavy, running footsteps come closer. "Holy… Mackenzie, get back down! I'm going to get you out of here."

Obeying Tyler's orders, I retreated as far as I could into the hole, pressing myself against the far edge. Moments later, I came tumbling down into Tyler's arms. I clung to him, wrapping my arms around his neck in such relief. "Tyler, I thought I was never going to see you again – I was so scared!"

"I know," he whispered into my ear, stroking my hair and holding me close. "It's okay now. It's all over…"

The word 'over' had barely left Tyler's lips when a brilliant flash of light blinded me. Seconds later, a shock of wind buffeted us, but we didn't move an inch. I could feel things disintegrating. Tyler's jacket and guns turned to ash and blew away, leaving me touching his warm skin. Glancing at the sleeve of my jacket, I could see I was unaffected. Tyler's arms wrapped tighter around me, pulling me closer to his bare chest. Soon enough, though, I started to feel his skin become dry and ashen. I ripped myself away from Tyler to watch in horror as the skin on his face slowly blew away to reveal a metal monstrosity underneath.

I gasped, sitting straight up in my bed. Looking around, I realized it had all been a dream. My heart was still racing and I was covered in a cold sweat. Luckily I hadn't woken anyone up. I glanced around the room to see the still-sleeping forms of John, Derek, and – Sarah's bed lay empty. I could hear Sarah and Cameron talking just outside the door. After a few moments, their voices faded away and I heard their footsteps (Cameron's naturally heavier) walk away. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I shook my head, ran my hands through my hair and just stared at the darkness ignoring the pain in my shoulder. My dream played over and over in my head as I realized how much I truly missed home, as horrible as it was. I had no chance of knowing if Tyler was alive or not. Since Sierra was dead, the likelihood that Tyler was dead as well was…extremely high.

I clenched my jaw as tears welled up in my eyes, wiping them away in frustration as they fell onto my cheeks. I wish I knew what was going on; I had never been this emotionally compromised. Was this what was supposed to happen when you lost someone?

The sky was starting to lighten and the shadows in the room began to shrink. I must have been sitting there for a few hours, or at least what seemed like it. Soon enough, Derek's sleeping figure stirred. When he rolled over, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and saw me awake and sitting on my bed, he gave me an odd look. "What are you doing up?" he asked, pulling a shirt over his head before sitting across from me on my bed.

"Couldn't sleep," I muttered, tilting my head so my bangs fell across my eyes to hide that I'd been crying. By now, my shoulder had really begun to scream, aching so badly because I hadn't moved it in so long.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, his eyes flickered over my face, seeing right through my attempt to hide my blotchy cheeks and red eyes. Quickly running my hands through my hair, I gave Derek a pleasant look and tried to feign that I had suddenly forgot what had been bothering me. My shoulders drooped immediately after that, seeing Derek's expression unchanged. He was now giving me that 'I am not buying your load of crap' look.

I grimaced as I unwrapped my arm from around my knees and tucked it close to my side. I chewed on my lip in silence for a few moments as I tried to come up with what to say.

"You're guilty," Derek said after I still hadn't said anything minutes later. "You feel guilty for what's happened."

Finally meeting his gaze, my eyebrows knit together and I bit my lip, fighting the tears again. "Yeah," I choked out. "I might not be able to help the fact that Skynet is being built, but I could have prevented this… I can prevent Alex's virus from ever being fully created and I can prevent his death, and–" I cut off as my voice cracked, now looking down at my hands and watching a couple tears roll off the end of my nose and land on my palms. "I could have prevented Sierra's death, and possibly Tyler's too…"

Derek heaved a heavy sigh and moved closer to put both hands on my shoulders after tilting my chin up again. "You're not responsible for any of this, especially your friend's death. Things like that are out of our control. Trust me, if I could control the situation I would." He shook his head and sat back again, dropping his hands from my shoulders. "I'm not even sure of the outcome of everything. That's why we're here now, doing what we are to make sure Skynet never happens."

We held eye contact as the seconds of silence ticked by, and as Derek's words sunk in. The longer we sat there, the more tempted I was to spill everything to him. At the same time, though, I was scared out of my mind with what would happen. I was afraid things would change, and I didn't want that. I didn't want anything to change.

Finally, I broke the silence. "But what if what we're doing is just postponing it? What if all of what we've done is…for nothing?"

"Then I guess we know we've done all we can, and we take other measures to give the Resistance an advantage. We've given those who are blissfully ignorant another couple years." Derek shrugged and gave me a somber look. "I don't like the idea of losing this war any more than you do. But if we can't stop it, maybe it's supposed to happen."

Instead of taking Derek's last few words in a disheartening way, I shook my head and grit my teeth at the fiery determination now flaring in my chest. Giving Derek a steely look, I said, "Then we better make sure we stop it. I don't want to see this world burn again."

2023

Jesse sighed as she reached her barracks. After just confronting Connor about the whole situation about Mackenzie, she couldn't be more ready to have this all over with.

Setting Mackenzie down on her cot, Jesse shucked the pack of spare food and ammo off her back and let it fall to the floor. She looked over her shoulder at Mackenzie and couldn't help but smile, at least slightly. The little six-year-old was clutching a small, raggedy stuffed toy given to her by Kate Connor and was watching Jesse like a hawk.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Jesse asked her.

Mackenzie opened her mouth to object, but instead just shook her head rapidly to make sure Jesse knew she was wrong.

Jesse chuckled slightly and knelt down to Mackenzie's eye level, holding up a pack of food rations. "Prove me wrong, then. I saw you talkin' to Kate, what did you say to her?"

Mackenzie hesitated as her stomach growled audibly. "I-I…I wanted to know if…i-if I was gonna b-be in trouble."

"See? There you go, I knew you could talk," Jesse said, opening the foil packet before handing it to Mackenzie. "Why would you be in trouble?"

Mackenzie quickly chewed and swallowed her mouthful before answering. "B-because I went outside. Tyler was mad at me so he ran out and I wanted him back in, so I thought I could go find him but…" The little girl pushed the sleeve of her filthy jacket up and showed Jesse the small barcode covering half her left forearm.

A lump caught in Jesse's throat, and as much as it tore her heart she kept an impassive exterior. Clearing her throat, she shook her head. "You're not in trouble, Macken–" she caught herself. Mackenzie wasn't supposed to know she knew her.

The little girl proved she wasn't as dim as people thought. Her eyes widened slightly and she stared at Jesse. "H-how do you know m-my name?" she stuttered, trying hard not to.

"I'm…" Jesse hesitated. This was exactly why she didn't want Connor to involve her with all of this again. "I'm a friend of your mum's," she lied. "Now come on, hurry up and eat so you can get to bed. The sooner you sleep, the sooner you see your mum."

Mackenzie nodded obediently, now pleased with the reason Jesse gave her, and finished eating without another word. Jesse tucked her daughter into her cot and promised, with a small yet reassuring smile, that she'd protect her from the Terminators.

As soon as Jesse knew Mackenzie was asleep, the feelings that had threatened to surface ever since she laid eyes on the daughter she'd forgotten flooded forward. Joy, love, and happiness to see her little girl alive and well was coupled with regret, despair, and sadness that she still wasn't in the right place to keep Mackenzie with her. Jesse's vision gradually became blurrier the longer she stared at Mackenzie until she finally let the tears spill onto her face.

Six incredibly long years ago, Jesse had to give up the one thing that brought joy to her heart. She couldn't bear giving her up a second time that she was unprepared for. Jesse had no doubt that if she hadn't run away from Derek all those years ago and told him they were going to have a child, she would have gotten to see Mackenzie grow up this far, with Derek by her side. But all of that also would have changed everything she had with Derek, and she hated thinking about what would have changed. Gritting her teeth, Jesse shook her head and scolded herself. She had done this for a reason. She had given up the child she had with Derek for a reason.

Mackenzie's sweet face contorted into an expression of horror in her sleep, undoubtedly because of a nightmare. Before she even woke, Jesse scooped her little girl up into her arms and murmured soft, comforting words. Soon enough, Mackenzie's nightmare passed and she nuzzled herself closer to the warm comfort that was unknowingly from her own mother.

As the seconds and minutes melted into hours, Jesse decided before she fell asleep to forget why she couldn't hang onto this little angel in her arms forever. This was one moment she'd longed forever since Mackenzie left her arms six years ago. Now she was back…even if it was only for one night…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I smiled as Kisa, Alex's cat, jumped into my lap and started purring. Going with our plan, I was staying over at his place so we could get our uncle/niece dynamic down. We had to put nearly 18 years worth of fake memories together to make sure it was believable.

"So," Alex began, sitting in the oversized leather chair across from where I was sitting on the couch, "what do we have so far?"

Still smiling because of the cat in my lap, I tilted my head to one side and thought about it for a few minutes. "Uh…other than you being my favorite uncle, not a whole lot."

Alex gave a small laugh and fell silent for a few minutes, just watching Kisa and I. After a few moments, he shook his head in disbelief. "It's like you know her."

"Actually, I really have never met Kisa before. You've just told me a lot about her." Glancing up to catch a weird look from Alex, I added quickly, "I-in the future, of course."

Alex's expression changed nearly as quickly as I had spoken, but now it was one of uncertainty. "That's the one thing I can't wrap my head around quite. I've watched how you treat me, and how the others treat me…and you seem so comfortable with me while the others are almost hostile toward me."

Nodding, I paid a little extra attention to scratching Kisa's neck as I formulated an answer that wouldn't freak him out. "Well, their half of it is because they only see you for the virus that hurt the Resistance in the future. And for me, it's…" I trailed off, chewing on my lip and looking at the ceiling. "It's like you're family to me. At least, your future self. You were practically like an uncle to me, and you saved my life once."

Alex sat there and blinked for a few moments. "That would explain lots, then."

I chuckled slightly and nodded. "Yeah. I've known you since I was six, so I'm sorry if I freak you out a little when I do that."

Alex smiled and shook his head. "You haven't yet, but…now I'm curious. What _do_ you know about me?"

"Uhh, you grew up on a dairy farm in Colorado, dad passed away when you were 18, graduated from Colorado State when you were 23, and met Bridget Weber a few years later."

The look on Alex's face was priceless, but it made me wonder if he thought I was a stalker instead of someone from the future. For all he knew, Sarah, John, Derek, and I could just be suffering from a disease that made you insane and delusional. He held both arms up in surrender and said, "Wow, okay then. I don't doubt it anymore. It's just a little…"

"Weird?" I asked, smiling because Kisa was now reduced to a lump of warm, vibrating fur on my lap.

Alex nodded his head in a rapid affirmative. "Yeah, weird." He looked at me for a few more minutes, then shook his head, got up and started toward the kitchen. "I should make us something to eat, shouldn't I?" Alex picked up a knife, twirled it, and looked at me with his eyebrow raised. "Want to help?"

Glancing at the knife, and back down at Kisa, I shrugged and gently slipped the ball of fluff off my lap. "I might as well." After several moments of Alex showing me how to correctly cut some vegetables, we fell into silence. Yet again, the question that burned at the back of my mind surfaced, but I wasn't sure how to ask Alex what I wanted to without…well, offending him, or possibly screwing up the mission because of it. My brow knit together in a frown and I started glaring at the carrot I was currently chopping into pieces smaller than I should have been.

Alex laughed and nudged my shoulder playfully. "Hey, I'm pretty sure that carrot isn't going to sprout metal arms and a gun and destroy the world," he teased.

I met his gaze, his green eyes twinkling like I remembered them. Dropping the knife, I flexed my fingers and laid my hands on the counter top. "Yeah, I guess you're right. My, uh…my soldier's mind doesn't go away easily," I said quietly. Fidgeting my fingers, I tried to push the question out of my mind, but it was making it hard to concentrate. I felt like I had needed to know this vital little piece of information ever since Alex's suicide so many years ago…or before… The time travel was really starting to drive me off my rocker now.

He frowned and pressed his lips together, now looking at me in the concerned way that was so familiar. "Is there something up? You look like you need to say something."

Hanging my head slightly, I nodded and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, there is something I need to say…more like ask, really," I said, trying as hard as I could to put off asking it as long as I could.

Shooting me an expectant look, Alex set down his knife as well and leaned against the counter. "Mackenzie, whatever it is…" he trailed off.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess I just…want to know what made you do it."

"Do what?"

"Create the virus." I looked up at Alex and took a deep breath. "Why'd you do it in the first place if you knew what it could do?"

Alex heaved a sigh. "I guess it's part of human nature, that 'playing god' thing." He glanced over at me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "But as soon as you told me what its true purpose was going to serve, I lost that. I went to school to learn how to do this, and thought I was supposed to do this, when it turns out if I succeeded in it, I would only help something horrible."

I nodded, glancing back at Alex and resisted giving him a hug for only a few minutes. I couldn't help myself after that. He laughed and hugged me back briefly before I released and walked over to Kisa, flopping down on the couch again. One thing I was sure about; I was so happy to have Alex back, but did I really want to drag him into my life? The life I had now, being chased by futuristic intelligent robots? Some things never change…and I had a feeling death would follow me like it always had.

Kisa crawled onto my stomach and stretched out a paw to rest on my chin as a tear fell from the corner of my eye. Grateful that Alex couldn't see me, I went back to petting Kisa.

2023

Looking over her shoulder, Jesse saw Mackenzie's little hand waving in the air at her. Jesse had just left Mackenzie with Kat Connor so she could find Derek and straighten things out with him. Sighing, she could tell that was going to be a fun task. Derek was a stubborn SOB, and it was difficult to convince him of anything once his mind was made up.

Jesse had been so deep in figuring out how to talk to Derek about the situation that she didn't notice Kyle trying to keep up with her until she spoke. "Jesse! You in there?" he asked. It was unusual for Jesse to tune everything out like that…unless she was worried about something. "I think all that time down below with the tin cans have been getting to you," he attempted to joke. When Jesse didn't even crack a smile, he added, "You okay? Something up?"

Jesse turned around to face Kyle with a slightly confused look on her face. "What? Oh…no, everything's fine. Where's your brother?"  
"Over with Timms. He's still in a bad mood, you know," Kyle said, glancing over his shoulder.

"I figured. That's what I'm going to try and fix." Jesse saw Derek over by the young Resistance fighter Kyle mentioned and took a deep breath before taking a step toward him.

"…Yeah, be safe," Derek said to Timms before the man pushed off the wall he was leaning against and left Derek behind, nearly glaring at Jesse.

"I need to talk to you," she said when she reached him. She couldn't help taking a more defensive stance than usual; her feet planted, her arms folded tightly over her chest, and her shoulders rigid and sharp.

Derek shot her a disgusted look. "You sure you can't talk to Connor about this? You seem to be pretty damn good friends with him now," he scoffed.

Jesse clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "I had no idea Connor needed my help in that situation, Derek."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. He told you to say that, didn't he?" Derek shot back, starting to walk away.

"Derek," Jesse said sharply, grabbing his arm forcefully to make him face her again, "don't you dare accuse me of keeping you out of the loop when you've done the exact same with your missions. You don't see me getting my feathers ruffled because you won't tell me about a mission I know damn well is classified, do you?" Jesse stopped herself from going any further. She looked down at the hand she had on Derek's arm and unclenched her fistful of his jacket sleeve. She heaved a sigh and let her arms fall to her sides. "Look, Derek, I'm sorry if what I did made you upset. But you know just as well as I do that Connor doesn't just go telling everyone his plans, on top of the fact that he's one of the most mysterious people behind the Resistance."

They both stood there, gazes locked for a few long moments before Derek clenched his jaw stubbornly and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, you have your point."

Jesse kept looking up at him for a few minutes, searching his face and longing to tell him what she was really doing before she pulled his face closer and kissed him. "I love you, Derek. You know this, so why fight me?" She rest her hand on his face and stared straight into his eyes, searching for an answer.

He just stared right back at Jesse for several moments and finally kissed her forehead, enclosing her in a hug.

Jesse squeezed her arms around Derek's ribcage as tightly as she could and pulled away a moment later. "I have to take care of the girl before Connor will get off my back about her. I'll see you later."

They briefly shared another kiss before Jesse turned around and weaved her way through all the Resistance soldiers. Derek only heaved another sigh and shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder at his younger brother. "That's why you need to find a nice, sweet girl. Not a headstrong one like Jesse," he told Kyle.

Kyle only laughed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

After a few more days, Alex and I became more comfortable with what we were going to do. It was basically like having the Alex I always knew back in my life, and it was great. The day before we were going to Zeira Corp, I was back at the hotel room being acquainted to the surveillance equipment John was setting me up with.

"This is great," I told John as he threaded a wire through my shirt, leading to my collar to attach a small camera there. I already had a tiny wireless microphone and speaker stuck in my ear and wires strung through my clothes. "I feel like a tin can now."

John laughed and nodded. "Sucks, huh?"

I nodded in agreement and resisted the urge to rip all the wires off, shuddering at the thought that I had to do all of this again tomorrow before Alex and I left.

Cameron had been sitting on John's bed, just waiting and watching him wire me up like a machine. She tilted her head to one side and kept watching us silently. "You know, Cameron, I never thought I'd get creeped out by someone just looking at me, but you've definitely succeeded at it," I told her, now holding me arms straight out as John just kept working.

"I freak you out," she said, not bothering to ask it, but just state it.

John and I exchanged a glance and just shared a laugh, which most likely only confused the machine sitting on his bed even more.


End file.
